Their Second Chance
by capsgirl05
Summary: The Avengers have a new teammate but Hydra is after her. Heidi, also, starts to fall for a certain Winter Soldier despite that her instincts are telling her to stay away from him. Things start to escalate and Hydra rages war with the Avengers.
1. Chapter 1

Year 2050

An older woman stands alone over a headstone in a cemetery. Her long gray hair is braided and draped over her shoulder. Her face shows signs of age but her golden eyes were still bright as the sun. She stares down somberly at the headstone that reads:

 **James "Bucky" Barnes**

 **1917-2027**

 **A hero from the past and saved the future**

In the midst of her thoughts she smelled someone coming up behind her. A small smile curves on her face. "Glad to see you've returned safely," she calls out, not bothering to look behind her. A young man in his early thirties chuckles to himself as he walks up to the woman. He was followed by a black and gray husky with piercing blue eyes. His dark brown hair is long enough to be pulled back in a small ponytail. His gruffy face makes him look severe but the smile wrinkles around his hazel eyes shows his kinder side. "How did you know it was me?" "I may be old and losing my hearing but my nose is still sharp. I can smell your scent for miles…like I always did with him." The last part she said more quietly. The man stands next to her and looks down at the flowers laid on the grave. "All these years and it still hurts?" he asks curiously. The woman pats the man on the shoulder affectionately. "You'll understand some day, Xander," she responds.

Feeling a bit tired she takes a few steps back and sits on the stone bench next to the grave, sitting conveniently underneath an oak tree. "Probably sooner than I like to…" the man, Xander remarks gravely. "Killing me off already? Shame on you," the woman said crossly before cackling. "You okay?" he asks with a concerned face, seeing how tired she looked. She swats at the air with her hand. "I'm fine. Just get tired sometimes. You'll understand that someday too." Xander rolls his eyes before sitting next to her. The husky comes up to the woman and places his head lovingly on her lap. She smiles and pets his ears. "Such a good boy, Rex." "Tell me about him," he comments out of nowhere, "How you two met...How you fell in love…Tell me everything." The gray-haired woman squints her eyes suspiciously at him.

"What's the matter?" she asks. The man snorts with a smile. "You sure you don't read minds too?" he asks playfully. The woman cocks an eyebrow to encourage him to explain. Xander exhales loudly before responding. "I'm not sure what side I want to choose…some members of the team believe the Accords should be reinstated while others are…not wanting to go back to how things were before. I've heard countless stories from the past and how bad it got when the Accords were first introduced…" The woman nods, remembering the same stories too. "I'd hate for it to happen to us and for some of the older members to go through it AGAIN." She smiles to herself. She's known Xander since he was very small. She's become proud of the man he has grown to be. She can tell he will be a good leader of the Avengers someday but she knows he still has a lot to learn. "You're hoping to find the answer in my love story?" she questions with a smirk. He meets her eyes and shrugs. "Why not." The old woman places a hand on one of his knees and sighs. "Where do I start…"


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay Sam, you're up. Once you've located the payload, stand by," Natasha's said through Sam's comms in his ear. "Got it." Sam Wilson, along with Tony Stark, entered a large open space filled with important political and public figures. Both were dressed in dapper suits for the occasion, a social party for the President's Inauguration. Tony immediately starts a conversation with a Senator, leaving Sam to mingle on his own. He makes his way to the bar for a drink. Once he was served, Sam turns around sees a woman speaking with three men. All four began to laugh at a personal joke. "Found the payload," he whispers to himself.

"Alone?" Natasha asks. "No." "Just stay put but don't lose sight of them." "Understood." The woman, dressed in a slim fitting white dress with an exposed back, looks over at Sam briefly before returning her attention to her companions. She said a few words to them and starts to walk toward his direction. "I think I've been made." The woman comes up to the bar and asks the bartender for champagne. The bartender leaves for the moment. "Having a good time Duchess?" Sam asks. The blonde tilts her head to the side to give him a seductive smile. Her hazel eyes shine like liquid gold. "I am now." Sam extends a hand to her. "Sam Wilson. It's a pleasure Your Grace." She takes it and shakes his hand. "The pleasure is mine. I saw that Stark is here but I didn't think he would bring a friend along." "Pepper would've come but she came down with the flu so I came along," Sam explains. "I see. That's too bad." The bartender returns with a bottle of champagne and pours her a glass. "Thank you," she turns back to Sam, "Pardon me Mr. Wilson. I have to go congratulate the President. But let me share this…" She touches his arm gently. Her gaze never leaves his face. "I appreciate the Avengers' hard work and sacrifice. Thank you for what you do." Sam nods appreciatively. "Thank you, ma'am. We appreciate your support." Her head slightly tilts before sauntering away. Sam couldn't help but take a peek of her backside. But then he noticed as she was leaving the room, three men followed closely behind.

"I think something is happening." "Stay with her," Natasha instructs. Sam pursues the Duchess. He didn't find her right away and searched around other rooms. When he heard glass shattering he followed the noise and kicks the door to the room it was coming from. He found three men on the ground unconscious and the Duchess of Austria standing over them. Her dress tore from her left thigh all the way down to bottom of the dress. Stunned, Sam just blinks at her. She smirks at him and nods. "Mr. Wilson." Something metal breaks through a side window and smoke starts to spray from the metal canister. The pair began to cough. "Sam! Both of you get out of there," Natasha yells in his ear. Sam, while covering his mouth, reaches out for the woman and pulls her to him and tries to steer them out of the room. But he was kicked in the gut by someone with a mask.

The force pushes Sam and the Duchess back against a wall with windows. They were shoved hard enough to break through the glass, pushing them out of the building. Sam, blinded from the burning gas, reaches for his pack that was hidden under his suit and activates it. His wings pop out and he, with the Duchess, were able to fly up before falling to the ground. The woman clutches to his chest as he descends them down safely. Natasha, along with Steve, Tony and Bucky, met up with them. "Everything alright?" the redhead asks. "Yeah, we've been hit with the burning gas," Sam remarks and he lets the Duchess down to her feet and starts to rub his eyes. "Your Grace, allow me," Nat says as she checks her eyes. "I'm alright. Just stings…a lot." "Can you see?" "Not really. My vision is blurry but it'll go away," she says as she swats the woman away. "Your Grace, we can take you back to the compound. The King has asked us to keep you there until we know why Hydra is after you," Steve remarks. He wasn't sure if her pursed lips were due to the pain in her eyes or her being unhappy with the situation. "I suppose if my cousin ordered this, then I have no choice but to comply," she responds. "We've brought a ride. Come with us," Tony says as a black SUV pulls up next to the Avengers. Natasha takes her hand to guide her to the car. Before she got inside, Bucky pulls off his leather jacket and places it over her shoulders. With the fight she had with the men earlier, and from flying out of a window, her dress had torn. One sleeve was practically ripped from her shoulder. She smiles in his direction. "Thank you." Sam curses at himself for not thinking of that.

Eventually, the team and the Duchess arrive at the Avengers' compound. "Let's take you to Bruce," Natasha remarks as she leads Sam and the blonde to Bruce's lab. Tony, Steve, and Bucky went elsewhere. Within minutes Bruce was able to soak their eyes with a solution that healed them. He was finishing dropping some solution into the Duchess' eye when she moans happily. "Thank you. God, I hate it when they do that." "This has happened before?" "A few years back…back then it was pepper spray." Natasha brings the woman some clothes. "We don't have anything that fits you per se, but you'll feel better out of that dress, Your Grace." "Please, I'm off the clock. Heidi is sufficient." Heidi turns to Bruce. "Thank you Dr. Banner for your assistance." "Please, call me Bruce." "I've read your paper regarding the theory on the nuclearmagnetic force of gravity. Impressive." This made Bruce smile. "Thank you, how did you hear about it?" "I have a friend from NASA who is a huge fan of yours. When I say fan I mean she has a major crush on you." Bruce blushes. Natasha smirks amusingly.

She hands Heidi her cell phone. "The King is expecting a phone call I'm sure." Heidi's eyes widen. "Yes. He's probably wondering where I'm at." Once Heidi finishes dressing into a pair of jeans and a simple white shirt, she makes a call to her cousin, the King of Austria, Nat and Sam left Bruce's lab to meet up with Tony and the others. A few minutes later, Heidi joins them in the living quarters with an irritated look and cursing in German under her breath. "Would you like something to drink Duchess?" Tony asks, sensing some tension from her. "Merlot, please." He pours her a glass and hands it to her. She thanks him and sits down on a chair close to the fireplace. She takes a long sip as she tosses her phone on the table. "What did he have to say?" Natasha asks. "My cousin…says I'm to be under your protection until this whole thing with Hydra clears up." "You don't seem too happy about it," Steve points out. "The princess's birthday is this weekend. I was hoping to be home for it." She sighs heavily. "But I'd rather keep the enemy away from home so this will have to suffice." "Heidi…is it okay if we're on first name basis? We have some questions that need answered," Tony starts.

The woman eyes him cautiously. "Regarding what, _Tony_?" she asks, emphasizing his name. "Why does Hydra want you?" Steve asks, getting to the point. Heidi takes another long sip of wine. "Well…that's a loaded question." "In our defense, we need to know so we can help you," Sam explains. Heidi finishes the glass of wine. "Before I became Duchess I served in the Austrian Armed Forces, combat control. On one of my assignments, I was kidnapped by Hydra." "Why?" Steve asks. Tony presses a few buttons on a computer and a screenshot of a younger Heidi in an army uniform with a shepherd/husky mix dog. The fur was all white except a few black speckles around the legs. It had blue eyes. Heidi could feel the sting of tears coming to her eyes. "It was the dog, wasn't it?" Tony encourages her. She nods. "Tracker was an experiment my grandfather worked on, I was a little girl then." She gestures behind her to Bruce, who decided to join in on the conversation. "As a matter of fact, Bruce knows him…My grandfather worked with his father since they were college roommates." Bruce gave her a confused look. "Dr. Nicoli Yonkovich," she simply said. Bruce glances at the photo with the dog before back at Heidi. "Your dog…was subject 7?" "That's what grandfather called him then, but yes." "What exactly did your grandfather do?" Natasha questions.

"My grandfather wanted to come up with something that would help soldiers during the Afghan War. He came up with the idea that if we can have super soldiers," she gestures to Steve, "then why not super dogs. He made a formula. Tracker was seven times better at sniffing out bombs, gas traps, drugs, you name it. He was more effective than the modern bomb squad dogs could. He was also faster and smarter than an average dog. But he only obeyed Grandpa and me." She was quiet for a moment before continuing.

"He never aged…a side effect I guess, so he grew up with me and eventually worked with me when I joined the military." "Hydra found out about him and decided to investigate?" Tony thought out loud. Heidi nods. "They took the both of us." Flashes of what she saw flooded her head. Things they did to him. To her. Heidi squeezes her eyes shut for a minute but shakes it off. "They somehow were able to extract the formula that made him…super….before they killed him." "And?" Steve asks. Heidi swallows before answering, "They used it on me." The Avengers were alarmed. A few glanced nervously at each other.

"So what exactly happened then?" Bruce questions. "It was a painful process but…they were successful in making me a…super soldier…if you will." Tony presses a few more buttons and more information popped up on the screen. She points at the charts and graphs in the air. "All this, basically, will tell you that I am not only faster and stronger than an average man, but my senses of smell and hearing are heightened as well." "Not to mention your heartrate and metabolism is abnormally fast," Bruce adds. "I also have this thing with animals…they see me as an Alpha and they obey me." "You can what?" Tony asks with a confused expression. Heidi rolls her eyes. She gets up and walks to the nearest window and opens it. She places her arm out and whistles.

A moment later a canary landed on her hand. She makes pucker noises with her lips and the bird hops up her arm to her shoulder. She shows everyone the bird and pets it lightly on the chest with her finger. Satisfied, she releases the bird and shuts the window. "Does the Austrian King know about this?" Bruce asks. "No. Nobody knows what I can do, except one person. I didn't want the media getting into my business." "So how did you escape?" Bucky questions. Heidi shrugs. "I got lucky…after a couple of years being with them I was able to sneak away. They were more distracted on a more important issue. They were trying to find one of their own…they called him the…Winter Soldier or something." The room got quiet. A flash of memory came to Bucky. _An image of dragging a woman tied up through the desert. A dog. The woman whimpering, "Please…don't hurt him."_ Bucky tried to shut it out by closing his eyes. His left hand balled into a fist. Heidi noticed that some of the Avengers shifted their gaze at Bucky and she was going to say something when Steve spoke first, "So now they're trying to get you back. Did you know they were looking for you?"

"They know where to find me. I mean, I'm a public figure but that also might have been the problem. I'm constantly under surveillance so if I disappear, people will know and come looking for me. It's partially why I became Duchess. I was hoping that being in the public eye would protect me. But I still get this feeling that they were watching me…studying me." "They must be getting desperate then if they tried to snag you at the Inauguration party," Natasha said.

"So now we know the truth about you Duchess, the question is…what are we to do with you?" Tony spoke. Heidi stands up and glares at him. "What do you mean 'do with me'?" "Well, with your…gifts you have a few choices," he explains, "You can be considered dangerous and put under SEVERE surveillance and retire as Duchess." Heidi snorts rudely. "Or you can join us and we can work together to put Hydra to the ground," Steve interrupts. He gets up and steps toward Heidi. "And why would I do that Mr. Rogers," Heidi asks in an amused tone. "Because you know who we are. We have a lot in common. A common enemy. A common goal. We even lost those we loved," he says, looking at her with those steely blue eyes. Tracker's face came to her head. "If you want them off your back, then why not help us do that." "Be an Avenger?" she questions with a smile. "We could use the extra help whipping these boys in shape," Nat adds in. Heidi snickers at the statement. Steve opens his hand out to her. Without breaking eye contact, she takes it and shakes it. "You've got a deal."

Right then, Friday announces a visitor and T'Challa enters the room. Heidi smiles at him. "Your Highness!" she exclaims and the two gave each other a big hug. "It's good to see you safe Heidi. How are you feeling?" T'Challa remarks. "I'm fine thanks to Sam's quick thinking," she responds and turns to Sam. The man puffs up like a proud rooster. T'Challa pulls her away to look at her all over. "You're looking as beautiful as ever, if not even more." The girl smiles and squeezes his shoulder. "You're not looking too bad yourself." "I see you've acquainted yourself with the Avengers," he says as he gestures to the team. "You can say that," she responds with a wink. "What brings you here T'Challa?" Steve asks. "Miss Hendricks and I have some matters to settle and I've been told she's to stay with the Avengers for the time being. In fact," he gestures to a few men walking in with suitcases and luggage. "I've brought your personal effects for you." Heidi smiles and hugs T'Challa. "Thank you! Did you bring him too?" she asks with a hopeful look. "Of course I did." He gestures with his fingers and a man comes up with what looks like pet kennel. Heidi kneels over the door and coos. "I'm so sorry dear. I know you hate being locked up." She opens up the door and a snow leopard comes out. He immediately rubs himself all over her lovingly. "Are you bringing a cat into the compound?!" Tony yells. "No pets!" The beast hisses at Tony with contempt. "Alexi always stays with me. He'll obey me," Heidi remarks confidently. Tony rolls his eyes. "I'll lead you to your room then Heidi," Natasha says and the two women leave the room. Heidi clicks her tongue and the cat follows behind.

Within hours, Heidi was able to settle into her own room with an office set up by the labs for political work. Not feeling tired yet, Heidi decides to take a tour around the compound. She was happy to see an entire floor dedicated as a training facility. The kitchen pleased her too. After taking a look at everything she was about to head back to her room when she saw Bucky heading to the training room. "Mr. Barnes," she calls out. He turns to her and tries to smile at her. "Hope you've made yourself comfortable here." "I have…" She couldn't stop staring into his icy blue eyes. There was something about them that seemed familiar. Then she remembered.

"When I was taken to Hydra, they only sent one man. Surprisingly, he took out the rest of my team like it was nothing. When he got close to me, Tracker tried to attack him. The man easily took care of him with a tranquilizer…" Bucky looks down at his feet; he wasn't liking where the conversation was going. "I tried to fight him off but, obviously, he was too strong. He put me out with the tranquilizer as well…" She also remembered that as she was fading, she couldn't help but stare into his eyes. The rest of his face was covered. She couldn't help but think, 'Why does he look so sad?' "I remembered waking up, tied up, and being dragged away from my camp..." Ever since the incident, she always saw him as the monster with the sad eyes. "…It was you, wasn't it? The Winter Soldier." she asks with a strange look in her eyes. He looks away nervously before responding, "I was," in a low voice. Heidi steps up closer to him. "I suppose if weren't for you I would still be under Hydra's control. I guess that makes us even." He didn't say anything but she could hear his heartbeat racing. "Goodnight," she whispers and walks away.


	3. Chapter 3

The next couple of days, Heidi and T'Challa discussed some matters regarding their two countries; they were working on a contract for Austria to have vibranium rights. After arrangements were made for the contract, Heidi escorted T'Challa to a jet on the roof of the compound. "It's always a pleasure to see you Heidi." "Likewise, thank you for bringing Alexi to me." He nods with a big smile and takes off. It was a difficult adjustment but she became acquainted with the team and discovered she had a lot in common with Steve and clicked easily with him and Sam. She wasn't sure how she felt about Bucky.

She asked Natasha about him and she explained his story. Despite that he was used as she was, Heidi couldn't shake off the thought that he was the one who had taken her to Hydra. It was because of him, her life changed. She could tell that he became nervous around her too, as if he was unsure how to behave with her. She got along with Nat and Wanda quickly as well. After all, girls have to stick together. Tony wasn't entirely thrilled to see the snow leopard joining Heidi at the Tower. "Crazy cat lady," Stark says under his breath. Everyone eventually got used to the cat. Even Coulson, when he comes to visit, enjoys him and brings treats for him.

(Satellite Heart-Anya Marina)

Within her first few weeks, Heidi made a discovery. She woke up in the middle of the night thinking she heard something. She tried to focus on the sound; it sounded like a moan. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. 3:24 a.m. The sounds became more urgent and then louder. She gets up and takes a handgun to investigate. The sound leads her to someone else's room. The door wasn't completely closed but she couldn't see inside. Aiming the gun at the door with one hand, she uses the other to gently open it ajar. Quickly she pulls the hand back up to the gun.

"NO…STOP…" The moans began to turn to audible words.

When Heidi peeks inside, she saw Bucky. He was tossing and turning in his bed, tangling in his sheets. "UHhh…Please…don't…" She lowered her weapon and relaxed. Slowly, she came closer to him. She can smell his sweat pouring out of him. His eyes are still closed. His hands are clenched in tight fists. It seems strange to see the monster with sad eyes like this. He looks so vulnerable and scared.

This is nothing like the man she first met years ago. Something in her chest tugged at her while watching him. Confident in herself, Heidi takes a hand and wipes his brow. "Shhhh….shhh….Shhhh" she shushes quietly. She pulls his head up enough so she can sit on the edge of the bed before putting him on her lap.

"Noo…no…" he mutters and jerks around. "Shhhh…shh.." She can see his hands slowly relaxing. Heidi brushes his hair from his face and continues to gently shush him. Heidi, then, heard thumping of feet running and instinctively aims the gun at the door. Steve opens the door and was surprised to see her. She sighs with relief and puts the gun away. Bucky then starts to quiet down and was sound asleep. Seeing that he was ok, Heidi pulls away from the bed and adjusts the sheets for him. She and Steve left the room quietly.

"Hey, thanks for that," Steve whispers with a thankful smile. "How often does he get nightmares?" she inquires. Steve shakes his head. "Almost weekly. I try to wake him up when it gets to be too much. That's his third bed since he joined us," he adds lightly. Heidi turns her attention back to Bucky. "My cousin, well…the princess, used to have night terrors when she was little. I would have to crawl in bed and pet her while singing songs until she stopped." She turns back at Steve. "What about you?" Steve was taken back by the question. No one has ever asked him if he was ok. Usually it was the other way around where he's checking up on people. When he doesn't answer she cups his face with her hand. "Everyone has nightmares. It's nothing to be ashamed of." She gives him an encouraging smile. "I'll be listening for you too," she says before walking back to her room, leaving Steve to his thoughts. (end song)

When she was in Austria working with her cousin, the King, she felt that she had to hide or put up a mask constantly. As much as she enjoyed the diplomatic work she had done, Heidi knew she didn't belong there. With the team, they know what is different about her and don't care. They're all different but they work together for the greater good of the earth. It's not easy work but it's worthwhile for her. The fact that she can use her abilities to help those in need helps her get out of bed every day, especially with the possibility of taking down Hydra. With the Avengers, she was able to polish on her skills and control them better. In a way, they've made her better.

If she was going to be part of the team, Heidi was going to have to go through some rough training. They could see that she was natural fighter, which is good but she needed more guidance. Most especially with being an 'enhanced', she will have to learn her strengths and weaknesses. Natasha was assigned to her for hand-to-hand combat and weapons. They worked together for a few months. It was rough at first because she, also, had to do some physical training. When she wasn't with Natasha, she was with Steve in the weight room. And when she wasn't with either of them, Heidi was with Bruce going over her health regarding the Formula and see if there have been any changes.

Initially they haven't seen anything. But after four months of working with Natasha, and sometimes with Rhodes or Sam, and improving rapidly, Bruce started to see some changes in Heidi. He showed her two glass slides of blood samples of her. He put one in the microscope and made her look. "This is when you first came in. Notice the blue cells? That's the Formula. Look how it is mixed into blood cells." "Uh huh." "Do you see some splotches?" "Yeah." "That's dead blood cells. The Formula is attacking the blood cells." Heidi looks up at Bruce with a concerned face. He raises a finger.

"But..." He switches the slides and she looks at the second slide. "This is your sample from the other day, four months later." Heidi could tell the difference but wasn't sure what all it meant. "The Formula is blending in with the blood cells, or attaching, to the cells. Some of them have even changed but they're not dead cells. They're...new." "What does this mean?" she asks. "The Formula is adjusting...it's...evolving with your body. With the training and working with your abilities, it's helping your body grow accustom to the Formula," he explains with a smile. "So...if I hadn't improved myself the Formula would've killed me?" "In a way, yes. It would've been slow...and probably painful." "Wow...interesting." "It is!" Bruce was smiling like a boy in a candy store. Seeing Heidi give him a funny look he apologized. "Sorry. I'm just enjoying the science behind all this." She smiles back at him. "You're fine Dr. Banner. Glad to see that this can be used as a positive outlet," she remarks while gesturing herself.

With her physical training, Heidi learned to handle multiple weapons. She became very handy with a whip to the point that Tony made a special one for her. When he showed it to her, she was impressed with how lightweight it was but after snapping a couple of times, she could tell it was a powerful weapon. On the handle, there were a couple of buttons. "If you press this one," Tony explains and presses a green square button. The whip stiffens and becomes a rod. "Neat!" she exclaims. Tony presses the green button again and it loosens into the whip stage. "And if you're feeling frisky…" He presses a round red button. The whip crackles and pops with electricity. Heidi's eyes widen and a big grin spreads on her face. She was like a kid in a toy store. "I love it!" She gives the man a big hug. "Thank you Tony." "Glad you like," he remarks. Ever since Heidi continued to work with the whip with her hand to hand combat skills.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the weeknd.

(In The Night-The Weeknd)

Steve, Bucky, Natasha, and Sam were assigned a mission to find a spy. Steve thought it would be a good idea to bring Heidi along to teach her a few things. She was instructed to stay with Natasha. The team eventually found the spy and chased him down into a crowded club. "This will be like a needle in a haystack," Natasha remarks as the team gathers outside the building. "How about I go in? The guy didn't see me so he won't know I'm following him," Heidi suggests. "Sniff him out?" Steve questions. She nods. "I can do this. I just need something of his. Do we have anything?" Sam pulls out the spy's jacket. "He dropped this when we were pursuing him." "That's perfect." She takes the jacket and inhaled deeply in it. She got a scent. "Got it."

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asks. "Yeah, I'll search for him and lead him out here to you guys." "No, I'll go with you," Bucky said. Heidi rolls her eyes. "I can do this by myself," she retorts. "I feel better with him going with you. You're not ready to be on your own yet," Steve argues. Heidi gives him a glare before walking into the club with Bucky trailing her. As soon as they went inside Heidi's ears were attacked with the loud bass and crowds roaring. She tried to focus on the scent but her nose was getting everything BUT the spy: alcohol, bad colognes, drugs, even vomit. She and Bucky weaved their way through the dancing crowd. "Have anything yet?" Natasha asks on Heidi's comms. "Not yet. Gimme a sec." A flare of pain was pounding in her head. The constant noise was disturbing her ears and her nose was burning. She clutches her head with her hand.

"Fuck," she curses. "What's wrong?" Bucky asks as he leans closer to her so she can hear him over the noise. "It's too much. There's too much going on. I can't focus on him." She felt her shoulders twisting to face Bucky. His blue eyes stare intently at her. "Focus on me. Try to drown out the noise." He grabs her by the waist and she realizes that he's dancing with her. "What are you-" "Eyes on me…but we don't want to draw attention to ourselves," he explains. Her eyes never left his as they danced their way through the crowds. She moves closer to him, smelling his scent and focused on his scent. Leather and pine. Being this close to him made her nervous which was strange because she's usually never nervous around men. A random thought of him attacking her ran through her head and it made her jerk away from him. Then she caught the scent and her head snapped to her right. "There," she yells in his ear. She grabs his hand and leads him straight to the spy who was hiding in a private room with some hookers. "Good work," he said to her before beating up the spy and dragging him out of the club. "Good job guys," Steve compliments, "Not too bad, Hendricks. A little rough for a minute but not bad." "I screwed up. I get claustrophobic in crowds and the noise gives me headaches." "All the more for you to overcome that. You'll learn to focus on your senses in time," Bucky says encouragingly. She nods. "Thanks for helping me back there," she replies. He nods back. (end song)

One day, Heidi was sparing with Nat and Sam at the same time, with Steve and Bucky watching them, when Vision came into the arena. "Sorry for the interruption," he says loudly. Everyone stopped and turned to him. "But Miss Hendricks has a visitor." Vision gestures behind him. T'Challa steps forward and smiles at everyone. The snow leopard, who was curled in a ball next to Steve, perked up and ran up to T'Challa in an excited frenzy. "Ohhh good to see you Alexi," the King of Wakanda cooed to the beast as he pets the cat lovingly. He plays with the cat's collar and gives Heidi an amused smile. The collar was fashioned very similarly like the Black Panthers but with a few studded diamonds. "Someone's been spoiled." Heidi laughs. "He certainly is. What brings you here? You didn't have to come all the way over here; you have my cell." T'Challa's smiling face disappeared. "This is something I wanted to share with in person." Sensing something was wrong, Steve and the others gathered to them. "What's happened?" Heidi asks cautiously.

"It's your cousin...he's broken the contract." Heidi purses her lips and curses in her mother tongue. "Maybe we should talk about this elsewhere," Natasha suggests. Everyone agreed. T'Challa left them to clean up and within twenty minutes the group gathered in a secure meeting room. "What did he do?" Heidi starts asking. "It's not what he has done...but what he's about to do." T'Challa brought out a file and pulled out some pictures. "Is that what I think it is?" Steve asks angrily. Heidi curses under her breath again. She gets up from her seat, too irritated to sit down and walks around with her hands on her hips. "Did you know about this?" T'Challa asks her carefully. Heidi looks at him directly in the eye. "Do you think I would've let this happen if I knew? I swear I knew nothing of this." "Your cousin trusts no one else to do his work, so why would he hide it from you?" Sam thought out loud. "Because he knew I would never go along with this. A vibranium nuclear missile? I would've shut that down in a heartbeat."

"How did you discover this?" Nat asks. "I have spies everywhere," T'Challa explains simply. "Well..." Steve starts and looks at Heidi, "Ready for your next mission?" She responds with a big smirk. "I understand that the King of Wakanda cannot officially be a part of this...but will the Black Panther be joining us?" she asks. T'Challa smiles back. "It would be my pleasure." They spend the next hour or so planning their course of action. Once they were suited up and ready, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Sam, T'Challa, and Heidi got on a jet and headed toward Austria.

"I just realized you don't have a code name," Natasha remarks to Heidi. "That's right," Steve chimes in. Heidi thought about it for a moment. "Well...when I was with Hydra they called me Tamer." "You're okay with that?" Bucky asks. "They may have named me that..." her voice drops low, "But they'll learn to fear it." The cold look in her eyes made the hairs on his neck prickle but he shrugged it off.

Once they arrived in Austria everyone went into position. Steve, Sam, and Bucky went to look for the missile to see if they can disarm or remove it while Nat, Heidi, and T'Challa were in charge of keeping security in the dark. The guys were successful in finding the missile but weren't sure how to destroy it safely. Plus, with the vibranium it was going to be difficult. "Where's Hulk when you need him?" Sam asks out loud. "We'll just have to make due with disarming it," Steve suggests. They ran into a few soldiers and took care of them on the way to the main office that connects the computer program to the missile for launching it. Unsure how to deal with computers they called Nat to join them, leaving Heidi with T'Challa.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do Heidi turns to the Black Panther. "I'm going to find him. It's up to you if you want to join me." Knowing who she meant T'Challa shook his head and he grabs her before she walks away "Don't let hatred and your anger consume you. I don't want you to regret the choice your about to make," he growled. "If I don't stop him, he'll hurt more people. Isn't this what it's all about?" "Justice will take care of him." Heidi smirks and shakes her head in disbelief. "That's not the kind of justice he deserves. If you're not going to help me then don't come. Otherwise, don't tell anyone." She wrenches herself from his grip and walks away. The Black Panther, unsure what else to do, decided to follow her. The pair took off toward the other end of the palace where the King resides. Heidi finds him sitting on his office desk, in his night robes, writing on a document.

He doesn't become aware they've entered the room until she is right in front of him; her whip holstered to her side. "Oh! Heidi!" His eyes grew big in surprise. "Have you come back home then?" he asks. T'Challa comes closer and folds his arms in front of his chest. The King blinks nervously at him. "No Your Highness, I'm here on a personal matter," Heidi says coldly. Instantly she snatches his throat and tightens it. The King grasps for her hands and tries to break free. "You've made a fool out of me. How can you live with yourself when you use that weapon on innocent people? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't retire you permanently." Her golden eyes stare into his brown ones. The man was terrified. The way she looks at him is like a predator does to its meal. "V-Vict...Victoria..." This only angered her more and she squeezes harder. "If you think that sweet girl is going to save you, guess again." Heidi leans close to his face. "Long...Live...The King..." she said slowly. Her cousin's eyes were bulging. His face turned purple. "Heidi, that's enough," T'Challa snarls and reaches out to stop her. But it was too late. The King stopped struggling. Heidi pulls away and her body starts to shake. "What have you done? The media is going to find out about this. You've put the Avengers at risk now," T'Challa scolds. "It'll be fine. Trust me," Heidi says and walks away.


	5. Chapter 5

The media did find out. The following morning, the news channels talked nothing except two things: the vibranium nuclear warhead in Austria and the death of the Austrian king. Tony was furious so he starts to verbally attack Steve. Heidi's public statement was playing on the television.

 _"On behalf of the Avengers I want to make it clear that, yes, they were in Austria to investigate the nuclear warhead but under no circumstances were they involved in the death of King Eric." "Do you know what happened to the King then? You worked closely with him?" One reporter asks. "King Eric suffered numerous hereditary illnesses including dementia. That was no secret. The autopsy concluded though that it was suicide. He strangled himself to death." "Do you think perhaps because the Avengers were investigating at the palace that he decided to take his own life?" Another reporter asks. "King Eric was not a coward in that sense but perhaps he was afraid for another reason. That's all I have to say."_

Heidi was in the kitchen, cooking, and listening to the news while everyone else was watching from the entertainment room. Tony stops arguing with Steve to only get on the phone with Maria Hill. Some of the team members broke away to blow off steam. Steve, noticing Heidi, takes long determined strides at her. Roughly, he grabs her shoulder and pushes her against a wall. She cries out in surprise. "What did you do?" he roughly asks. Bucky joins them, wondering if he needs to mediate. Heidi just frowns at him. "I think you know exactly what I did." "Why? You just jeopardize the team. The public is going to start seeing us as dangerous now, especially now that it looks suspicious that we were just there and he died that same night." "I've got it covered ok!" "Heidi, that's not what we do. We take down the enemy and bring them to justice, the right way." Heidi pushes him off of her. "Is that how we are going to handle Hydra? Because that's not what I signed up for! You know damn well that Hydra will never stop unless we take them out completely. It's even in their motto: cut off one head, two shall take its place." "We don't kill people Heidi!" Steve tries to explain to her. "You have no idea who my cousin was like. He was a determined man. Once he has his sights on something he will stop at nothing to make sure it goes his way. People were going to die, one way or another. I am willing to make that sacrifice." "No Heidi, we lock them up." Bucky, unsure of what to do, becomes frantic. He grabs his head in frustration and starts yelling. Their yelling was stressing him out. It stops the pair from fighting and they try to calm him down. "This isn't over," Steve growls at her before taking his best friend away to take care of him. "Damn right it's not," she calls back at him.

She went to blow off steam at some punching bags in the training room for a few hours. After cooling off, she started to think about what she said and felt bad. Images of her cousin's face began to play in her head. Her hands started to tremor. Her body began to shake. She took long deep breathes until they went away. She searched for the guys and found them on the floor in Bucky's room, sitting there. She joins them on the floor. "How are you feeling?" she asks Bucky. "I'm alright." His voice sounded scratchy. She looks at Steve. "I'm sorry…for putting you guys in this position. I wasn't thinking things through." Steve nods in acknowledgement. "But I don't regret killing him…" Both of the guys frown at her. Tears start to fall down her face.

"That's what scares me. I didn't feel anything…breaking his windpipe…watching the life fade from his eyes…" The guys dropped their heads. They didn't know what to say or how to comfort her. "I don't know if this is Hydra's doing…or if it's just me…when did I become so cruel?" "You're not cruel, Heidi. We've all done things we don't like or wish we didn't," Steve says trying to be consoling. Bucky bravely reaches out for her and pulls her toward him. She allows herself to be comforted by burying her face in his chest. "I often wonder the same myself," he says in a low voice, "I wonder if it weren't for what they've done to me… if I were able to make the same choices I was forced to make…if I would do it again…It scares me, too, because I think I would…" Heidi pulls her head away to look up at him. Her big hazel eyes looked like golden pools to him. He had a sudden desire to drown himself in those eyes. "But I realized that I can't live in the past anymore. I can't drive forward if I keep looking back at the rearview mirror. Don't let your fears, your anger, and your hate consume you…because it will break you. Trust me, I would know." "We're going to be here for you Heidi, no matter what," Steve adds in, "I swear we will take Hydra down but we have to do it together."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Karmin.

(Hello-Karmin)

It was a bright, clear morning in New York. Usual traffic is hell. People are dodging one another to get to work. In the midst of the normal buzz a flying toy helicopter zips passed people's heads in the Square. Heidi, dressed as a jogger, spots it and smiles to herself. But she smells Steve close by. Damn it! She moves faster, chasing the zipping toy. She spots him to her left. He sees her too but they turn to the toy. It flies upward toward the top of a building. She makes the decision to jump off of a hotdog stand and leaps for an emergency ladder attached to the side of the building. It didn't take her long to get to the top, where the toy was flying higher. "Come on!" she can hear Steve yell in frustration. As soon as she thought she was clear to get it, Bucky's scent invades her nose. He's on the rooftop too. 'Where the hell did he come from?' she thought to herself. She yells in frustration as she catches up to the Winter Soldier. He turns behind him to smirk at her.

She kicks at his legs to make him trip, He barely dodges but runs into Steve, who manages to join them again. "HA!" Heidi yells behind her as she runs ahead after the chopper. After the guys scramble to their feet they were able to catch up to her. They jump and leap from building to building, chasing the toy chopper. The chopper continues flying forward but the trio start to realize they're running out of buildings to chase it. There's a dead end. 'I can do this,' she thought. Heidi keeps pushing forward, seeing Steve falter behind. The chopper stops in mid air, far enough away from the edge to tease them. "Heidi," Bucky yells in warning but she ignores them. She reaches the edge and leaps, arms stretching out and feet kicking at the air. Her fingertips touch the tail and she was able to grasp it. (pause) But now she's falling with the toy in hand. She twists her body so her hands and head are downward. Within seconds she was able to curl to her side as she crashes into a glass ceiling and tumble into what looks like a greenhouse. "Ugh," she groans as she feels pieces of glass and pottery scratch her skin. She was able to retrieve the toy chopper and get up. Hearing someone's alarmed voice yelling she runs out of there and meets up with the guys in the street. She smiles as she waves the toy at them. They weren't so amused.

"You could've gotten hurt," Steve remarks sternly. "Hey, no guts no glory," she adds with a wink. That made the guys relax and smile. Within seconds a Camaro drives up next to them. The window rolls down and Natasha's face smiles at them. "Atta girl," she cheers. The two girls high five each other. "You guys want a ride back to the compound?" she asks as she reeves up the engine with a suggestive grin. Heidi tosses the toy in the car. "Nah, I'll run back. Thanks though," Heidi fiddles with her Ipod and headphones before taking off. (play song) Steve turns to his best friend with a tired expression. "Damn it." With that the guys run after Heidi to catch up with her. Neither of them wanted to be outdone by her. Natasha shakes her head with a big grin and drives away. (end song)

"I swear they're like golden retrievers on Redbull," Bruce remarks to Tony. They were both watching the exercise through the spy camera on the toy the super soldiers were chasing. "Except she practically IS one," Tony adds. Bruce nods in agreement. Within five minutes of Nat coming back, the trio returned as well. Sweating profusely. Heidi stretches with a big smile. "That was fun," she said. Pepper approaches her. "Let's get you fixed up and showered. You have a conference with the President of Spain in two hours," she says. "Damn, and here I was hoping I missed my window," Heidi complains. "What's he wanting this time?" she asks. "He mentioned a few questions regarding the truce with Austria." Heidi rolls her eyes. "Fine," she turns to the guys. "Same time tomorrow?" "Let's do it in Brooklyn this time," Steve says with a smile. "Nope, you live in Brooklyn." "Key word is LIVED" he calls out to her backside. Bucky's head tilts to the side as he watches Heidi leave with Pepper. Tony and Bruce were noticing this interaction.

"Have you ever thought…if Heidi and one of those two got together and made a baby…what it would be like?" "A super soldier…" Bruce answers blankly. "Exactly. Super Soldier 2.0! Imagine if HYDRA were to try to reproduce the serum naturally. That's scary stuff Bruce." The doctor agreed. If the serum can be transferred through the blood then it is possible Heidi and either Steve or Bucky would have superhuman children. "But what if all three had kids of their own, not with each other, with someone normal…what would be the chances?" He thought out loud. Before they realize it he and Tony buried themselves in their lab while working some math on the odds and possibilities of the super soldiers' genetics being passed down. The numbers were scary. Obviously if pairing two super soldiers is one hundred percent, if not more, surety that their progeny would be enhanced too. Over time, this became a project that was strictly for their eyes only and kept it a secret.

After cleaning up, showering, and meeting with the President of Spain, Heidi was starving. She, Wanda, Pepper and Nat went out together at an outdoor café. Steve and some of the guys were trying to turn on the television to watch a baseball game. Vision pressed a few buttons but somehow used the wrong remote; there's like ten different ones. Pepper's voice echoes out in the entertainment room.

"I don't know how you have the energy to do all that you do on a regular basis. Just watching you work out with Rogers and Barnes makes me tired," Pepper remarks. Heidi finishes chewing her steak before answering, "I have not enjoyed myself more in fact." The guys realized that somehow they're listening to a conversation of the girls.

They turn to Tony. "What? I always have Pepper's phone tapped. You never know." "How do we turn it off?" Steve asks. He didn't like listening to girls' conversation.

"Plus it's a good stress reliever since my sex life is nonexistent right now," they heard Heidi add. The girls laugh.

It got quiet with the guys. Seeing Sam's eyes grow excitedly Steve yells at Tony. "Turn it off now!" "Come on man! This is good," Sam begs. "That's an invasion of privacy, turn it off Tony." Tony pretends he's pressing a few buttons but he's only prolonging it.

"How long has it been?" Nat asks. Heidi was silent for a moment, feeling embarrassed. "Seriously? That long?" "It's been a very busy six months." "Six months!?" The women laughed at Heidi's expense. "So there's nothing with you or the super soldiers?" Wanda asks. "Yeah, you three seem inseparable," Natasha adds. "Well, Steve has been a great instructor and I'm grateful for this chance to do some good in the world. With Bucky…I don't know…" She became very quiet for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure how exactly she feels about him. "..The guys and I…we have a lot in common and yes, we certainly keep up with each other's…stamina…but no, there's nothing going on between us…"

All the guys got quiet and became interested in the conversation.

"So let me ask you this," Pepper starts, "If you had to choose someone to…start up your sex life again…" she smiles as she trails off. "Between Buck and Cap?" Heidi asks. The three women nodded. Amused, Heidi thought about it. "I don't know..." "Well Rogers is a total virgin. I swear his sex life is nonexistent too. It took him MONTHS for him and Sharon to kiss and now I hear that relationship fizzled," Nat states.

Steve turns bright red as the guys snicker at him.

"But Barnes strikes me as a loner, someone who's not really...well, interested…in sex," Pepper argues.

The guys turn to Bucky. His face changes shades and he shifts uncomfortably.

"Like I said, I don't know," Heidi concludes. The girls were silent for a moment. "I bet with your staminas you'd be in bed for days before you get tired," Wanda says sheepishly. All four women laugh loudly. "What about Thor? I hear he's pretty great," Pepper comments.

"Ok. We're done," Tony interrupts and presses the right button. "Well, if no one will…I'll take it for the team!" Sam says with a big grin on his face. The guys knew exactly what he meant. Clint snorts loudly. "No way you would have a chance!" he argues. "Oh and you would?" "I'm married!" "Knock it off guys. Let's just pretend we didn't hear any of this at all," Steve interjects. Sam just grins and wiggles his eyebrows at him and Bucky. "Perhaps Heidi would like a visit to Asgard and witness it's glory! She will certainly be worshipped as a goddess," Thor remarks with a smile. "Oh come on! Your dick isn't that big. Besides, what about your girlfriend?" Tony sasses. "I didn't say I would worship her but I know some who would." "Okay, we're done talking about this," Steve says angrily, "We're not going to make a game out of this." Before things got heated, Tony and Bruce sneak away back to their lab for more tests on their theory.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Nicki Minaj or Lil' Jon

The girls returned after their lunch and the guys pretended nothing happened. They knew the girls would've been unhappy about it and it would just be too awkward to explain themselves. That night, the girls were sitting in the pool on the roof of the tower. "Let's go out," Natasha comments. "Where to?" Heidi asks. "A club," Wanda adds in. "Tonight?" Pepper questions, "I have work to take care of." "Come on! Since the guys are having poker right now, we can totally sneak away and have some fun of our own," Natasha argues. After talking about it some more, the girls were able to convince Pepper. They got out of the pool and within an hour they were dressed up. Feeling naughty, Pepper calls Happy to get them a limo. He calls them back within twenty minutes saying the limo was here.

Tony, Steve, Bruce, Vision, Thor, Bucky, Sam, and Rhodes have gathered around a large table with cards in their hands and chips close to them. Drinks have been poured and cigars lit. Tony has been dreaming of a dudes' poker night for ages and it's finally happening. As they played for a couple of hours, some of them realized something. "Does it seem quiet to ya'll?" Sam asked out loud. "What do you mean? Don't distract us! If you don't have the winning hand then shut your mouth!" Tony remarks, as he anties up. Rhodes wasn't going to let it go. "Yeah…" He looks around. "Where are the girls?" The question brought the guys to a halt. When it came to the women of the Avengers team…silence means trouble. Tony rolls his eyes and growls with frustration.

"Friday, where is Maximoff, Romanoff, Hendricks, and Potts?" "The ladies have stepped out for the night. Shall I give them a call?" a feminine robotic voice answers. "Uhhh…YEAH! Put Pepper on the line?" Tony takes his cell to his ears. Pepper answers after the fifth ring.

"The liquor bottles are where they always are Tony," the redhead says.

"Where are you?"

"With the girls, why?"

"Tower was quiet so we were wondering if something was up. Checking if you ladies were alive," Stark responds as he eyes the others.

He can hear her talking to the others, "See, I told you it wouldn't take long for them to notice we left." "What was that?" Tony sasses.

"Oh nothing. Just having a girls' night out," Pepper retorts back. "Yeah, stop calling us! You're crapping our style Stark!" Natasha yells in the background, followed by loud laughing.

"Well what if I wanted to see you…later?" Tony asks, again, he looks at the guys sheepishly.

"Oh you'll know where we'll be." Then she hangs up.

"Rude…" Stark mutters to himself. "Does it matter where they're at? They're fine. Let's continue with the game!" Thor yells. "Only because you're winning," Steve answers with a glare. "Ohhh daaammmnnn." Sam held a fist to his mouth while looking at the screen on his phone. "What now?" Steve asks with an annoyed expression. Sam looked like his eyes were going to explode. "So… I know where the girls are at."

He holds his phone out to the guys. The screen shows Natasha's Instagram account. The four girls are in a limo together.

"Is that one of my limos?" Tony roars furiously. They pose in short cocktail dresses and champagne.

"Is that my champagne?" Tony roars again.

The poker game continues but was interrupted numerous times with Sam giving updates on the girls. Finally Natasha shows a photo of where the girls are going. "Rooftop 12?" Steve asks out loud. "Oh. ," Sam said with his mouth open. "What is a Rooftop 12?" Vision asks innocently. "That's the hottest rooftop strip club in the city!" Sam practically screams. "Chill, Sam. Don't even think about it," Steve warns. He turns to his best friend for support but Bucky was gone. "Great…There goes poker night," Tony remarks, looking like he's about to cry. "Come on, might as well all go," Steve adds as the guys walk out of the Tower to catch up with Bucky. "I'll stay here…in case the girls come back," Bruce remarks. He didn't really want to go out to a strip club. Thor and Rhodes stayed behind as well.

Natasha smiles to herself with pride. She knew that as soon as she posted where they were at, the guys would come running. 'This will be fun,' she thought to herself. She turns her phone off and joins Wanda, carrying martinis, to the table they were able to snag in the strip club. Rooftop 12 is the hottest club you want to be in New York. They have cages, S&M rooms, black out rooms, and a huge dance area with the DJ jamming in the middle. People are already jumping practically naked in the pool with the naked mermaid fountain. Right now Nicki Minaj 'Pound the Alarm' literately pounds on the dance floor. Heidi and Pepper are dancing and laughing together. As soon as they saw Wanda and Natasha, they came to the table and all four cheered with their martinis. "To the first official ladies night!" Pepper yells. "WOOO!" the girls scream before taking a swig. "I haven't had this much fun since college!" Pepper shares. "I haven't had this much fun since…well, ever," Wanda adds with a smile. "I'm finishing this drink and I'm hopping on one of those cages," Heidi announces. In three gulps she was done. She slams the glass on the table, nearly shattering it. She makes a break for one of the empty cages as Rhianna 'Birthday Cake' plays.

Before the girls finished their drinks and joined her, Tony, Clint and Vision popped up out of nowhere. "Hi ladies, enjoying the night? All expenses paid for and all," Tony remarks. "What do you mean by that?" Pepper argues with a smirk. "First of all, you stole one of my limos…Second of all, I KNOW you took my credit card…" "What's mine is yours baby," Pepper says, grinning like an idiot. "We're just along for the ride," Natasha adds. "Can it, Romanoff . I know this was your idea!"

"Shall we return to the Tower, Wanda?" Vision asks.

"Aww, but I'm having so much fun."

"Well it's four in the morning and that's probably you're, what, sixth drink?" Clint says.

Wanda can only nod in response; she, too, has a goofy grin on her face. "You won't feel good in the morning. Might as well start off with some rest," Vision tries to reason with the woman. He already noticed her fingers were sparking. "But I want to go into the pool first!" Before she can take off, Clint had hit her in the back of the head, knocking her out cold. "Sorry Wanda," he says. Vision carries Wanda while Clint and Tony had corralled the other two girls back into the limo the girls came in, leaving with Steve, Sam, and Bucky with Heidi.

She let her body go with the beat of the song, feeling the vibrations from the air tickle her skin. The alcohol was kicking in and making her feel light. When was the last time she was letting herself relax like this? Not caring about her surroundings or worrying about Hydra? When the song changed and the beat changes, Heidi climbs out of the cage and gets lost in the throng of the half-naked dancing crowd. "TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?!" People screamed. She just closed her eyes and let the song take over her. The loud music deafened her ears and her sense of smell has been tampered with from all the alcohol. Dull. Everything around her has dulled and became numb. 'This feels nice…for once,' she thought.

Then, she feels something firm and cold on her arm. She opens her eyes and turns behind her. Blue eyes glower at her. She slips a hand on his shoulder and leans into him. "Come here often," she says to his ear playfully. "Time to go," he responds. She shakes her head. "Not yet…I can't feel anything…and I like it," she argues. She tries to pull away from him but his metal arm holds her tight. "Come on Heidi, we'll take you back home," Steve says behind her. She twists to face him.

"Captain!" she yells, suddenly giddy.

Steve rolls his eyes annoyingly and runs his hands through his hair. "Just one more song! Please guys!" She looks back at Bucky. "You can join me if you'd like." She starts to sway her hips suggestively to him. The former Winter Soldier was still not smiling but his eyes never strayed from her body. He pulls her closer to him so only she can hear. "As fun as it may be, you need to come home before you lose control of yourself," he says with gritting teeth. Her eyes were starting to lose focus as he spoke, her heart was pumping the alcohol faster after her active dancing, numbing her body. Heidi felt her legs starting to give away but before she could black out Bucky and Steve grab for her. Bucky pulls her up in his arms and the two men leave the dance floor. Steve stops for a moment and yells for Sam. "Sam! Come on man!" Sam was dancing with some girls in go-go outfits. "Sorry ladies, America needs me." "Aww do you really have to go?" they cooed. Sam gives them air kisses. "I'll be back!" he says before leaving with the guys.

After about an hour, the girls were helped into their beds and the guys, exhausted after taking care of them, went to their own rooms. Wanda will never know that Vision had kissed her on the forehead as she fell asleep. Natasha will never know that Clint took a picture of her hotmess-iness for blackmail. Pepper will never know that Tony copped a feel of her butt as she slept. And Heidi will never know that she called Bucky 'James' before she went back to sleep. Hearing his first name from her lips made him feel strange. His heart skipped a beat and his stomach did flipflops.

It wasn't a long time before Heidi heard someone having a bad dream. This time, her ears led her to Steve. He was shaking and looked like he was in pain. Bucky must've heard him too because he came in and shook him to wake up. Steve's eyes popped open and almost took a hit at Bucky but he was able to hold him. He was breathing heavily as if he had been running all day.

"It's ok. It's me."

Steve's eyes snap to Heidi and Bucky and back at her, as if he's trying to figure out his surroundings. "You were dreaming Steve," she says quietly. His breathing calmed when he realized he was ok. Heidi cocks her head to the side, gesturing to the door. "Come on, I'll make some tea. Doesn't look like we'll be going back to bed for a while," she says.

The two men follow her to the kitchen. She heats up a pot of water and preps three cups of herbal tea. Her companion, Alexi, comes up and rubs against her lovingly. She pets his head in return. The wild cat turns to the two men and hisses at Bucky.

"Fucking cat," he mumbles to himself.

Heidi tried to hide her smile. "I'm sorry. Alexi can be quite jealous." "He seems to like T'Challa," Steve points out. "Because T'Challa gave him to me as a birthday gift a few years ago. He was an orphan and was going to be taken to a zoo in China but T'Challa took him in and he's been with me ever since. Since he's always with me and I visit T'Challa a lot he has grown very fond of him. He'll grow to like you both in due time." Bucky didn't hide the roll in his eyes. The pot began to hiss and Heidi takes it off the heat and pours the warm water onto the teabags in the cups.

"Sorry about earlier guys. It started out just us girls having fun but I think I took it too far with the alcohol…It just felt nice to not feel anything. Without the sensory overload and the headaches I get." "We understand. Glad you girls had a good time though," Steve remarks. She hands the cups to the guys and the three of them sit together on a couch and sip quietly, being in their own thoughts but being physically comforted by the company. Alexi hops on Heidi's lap and curls in a ball. The herbal tea slowly works its magic and the trio were able to finally fall asleep. Steve sleeps on one end of the couch with his head resting on his hand, Heidi rests her head on his shoulders with her legs crossed under her, and Bucky with his arms crossed and head on Heidi's shoulder. The next morning, the first person to witness the cute moment was unfortunately Tony. He took a photo and posted it on his Instagram feed.

#supersoldiers #goldenretrieversonsteroids #nightnight


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own X Ambassadors or Temper Trap

Heidi and Nat trained together when no one else was around. The sparring ended with 2-1 with Heidi winning. "You're getting better though Nat," she remarks with a smile. In almost a year, Heidi was able to surpass Natasha in hand-to-hand combat. "Sure, but I still didn't beat you." She checks her phone. "Ugh, I got a call from a friend. I've gotta take this. I'll see you around," Natasha remarks before leaving. "Later," Heidi calls behind her as she takes her bag before walking to the showers. She played her ipod on a speaker and turned on the volume. 'Unsteady' by X Ambassadors began to play. Assuming she was alone, Heidi strips naked and turns on the hot shower. The water felt amazing to her sore muscles. She rolls her neck from side to side; her eyes are closed. She listens to the lyrics and hums along with it.

Suddenly something grabs her shoulder, she twists around and sees Bucky leaning in and kisses her fiercely. His body becomes wet as he steps inside the shower with her. Without missing a beat, Heidi takes his shirt off while kissing him back. They separate for a second to let him strip off his shirt. She fiddles with his pants and he takes her mouth again. She could feel him pressed against her leg so she hikes her leg up to wrap around him. Knowing what she's trying to do, Bucky lifts her up and pushes her against the shower wall while holding her up. Heidi leans her head back to moan loudly. He takes a bite at her neck before kissing it. One of her hands pulls his hair while she holds onto his chest with the other as they come together. (end song)

When they were done, they dried off silently and avoiding eye contact. But they couldn't hide their smiles. They didn't say anything because, well, what are you supposed to say? Heidi couldn't believe herself what just happened. She was obviously physically attracted to him but her head was telling her to stay away from him. Before they parted ways, Bucky came up to her. He held her face in his hands gently and kisses her on the forehead. She simply smiles at him. She leaves first then he, when the coast was clear.

It wouldn't be the last time they had sex. Within the next several weeks, when they found themselves alone or have an opportunity, Bucky and Heidi would get together. A few times he would sneak into her room in the middle of the night. Other times she would join him in the showers after he was done working out. A couple of their teammates have suspicions about their relationship.

Steve turns out to be one of them. He engaged into friendly conversation with Heidi while helping her with doing the dishes. "So…how are things going with you and Buck?" he asks curiously. Heidi gives him a sideways glance but didn't respond to the question. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a secret. I just-"

"Did he put you up to this?" She asks as she twists her body to face him and places a hand on her hip.

"No! He doesn't even know I'm talking to you right now," Steve defends himself. She glares at him before turning her attention to the plate she was cleaning. "I think it's great, in fact. With the both of you moving forward…after what happened the first time you met," he adds.

"I wouldn't call it 'moving forward'," she responds.

"What would you call it then?"

She hands him the clean plate and he dries it with a towel. She grabs another plate. "I don't know...I guess, if you have to break it down, you can call it 'friends with benefits'." "But if I'm right, friends with benefits usually means no emotional attachment," Steve points out. "And what makes you think there's emotional attachment?" she asks with an amused expression. "Because I know him. He likes you Heidi." The blond turns her head to him with a puzzled expression.

"He's said that?"

"Not in so many words but I can tell."

Heidi snorts and finishes with the last dish. "How are you so sure?" "I can tell from the way his attention immediately turns to you when you enter a room and the way he tenses when someone else flirts with you." "Typical man…we haven't even put a label on the relationship and already getting jealous," she mutters to herself. "Because he likes you, Heidi. And apparently a lot. My question is…how do you feel about him? If it's just sex then you need to make that clear to him," Steve explains. Heidi turns off the water and dries her hands off but kept her gaze forward. "That's the thing. I don't know. I understand that he's a different person now and I've seen it…but it doesn't erase the memories I had from before." She turns to face Steve.

"Just the other night, I dreamt of him dragging me back to Hydra and I woke up with him lying next to me. It's…confusing." Steve nods. "Maybe you should be honest with him. See what it leads to," he suggests. "I don't want things to be awkward between us. I enjoy working with you both." "All the more reason to be on the same page. As a matter of fact, I was going to ask if you'd be willing to go on a double date." "Oh, uh," she gives him an apologetic face, "I don't do threeways anymore but-"

"No! God no! I mean with Sharon and I."

"Sharon?" Steve, then, starts to blush. "Well, we're trying to reconnect again but I don't want it to be awkward so I was hoping you and Buck would join us." "Aww, Cap's got a date!" "Will come with us?" he asks and she can tell he was nervous. "Me and Bucky…on a date?" "No pressure for you guys. Just for fun," he adds. She thought about it for a minute. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea BUT they wouldn't be alone. Maybe this would be a chance to figure out where this thing with Bucky is going. "When and where?" she asks with a nervous smile. Steve grins. "Tomorrow at six. Meet us at the Washington Monument." "Dress code?" "Casual." "Okay," Heidi said as she walks away. "Wait, what did you mean by threeway?"

(Sweet Disposition-Temper Trap)

"I can't believe you set us up to this," Bucky groans.

"It'll be fun. Like old times," Steve remarks as the two men waited for the girls to show up.

"Last time I went on a date was over 50 years ago," the Winter Soldier argues.

"Well we're not getting any younger. Besides, you and Heidi have to figure out what," he gestures to Bucky, "this is."

"What did you say to her?" he questions, giving his best friend a glare.

"Nothing. Just asked her how it was going and she said she wasn't sure."

Bucky runs his hands through his hair in frustration. His stomach was doing flip flops he thought he was going to throw up. "Hey guys!" Sharon's chipper voice breaks their conversation. Steve smiles and gives her a hug. "Thanks for joining us," he remarks and nods at Heidi, who was dressed in a simple back cotton dress with a leather jacket over it. "Happy to be here," she said but she was looking at Bucky. He gives her an encouraging smile. "So what's on the agenda?" Sharon asks. "Dinner on the go and a movie in the park," Steve answers and wraps an arm around her waist as he leads the way. "Ooo, what are we seeing?" "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid." "Never heard of it," Heidi remarks. "It's a classic western. You'll love it," Steve comments over his shoulder. Heidi and Bucky follow the couple separately. Both of them were too nervous to look at each other.

They grabbed hotdogs from a food truck and sat down on the steps of Lincoln Memorial. "Of all the times I've visited the United States, I've never had a hotdog," Heidi comments. Everyone else gave her shocked looks. "I know…the opportunity never came." "That's ridiculous. We're fixing this right now," Bucky remarks and hands her a hotdog with mustard on top. She couldn't help but be amused. "I take it hotdogs are your favorite?" she asks. "Mmmmhmmm," was all he could muster as he takes a large bite of his own. "So tell me a childhood story," Sharon requests to Steve.

"Um, where do I start? Well, there was one time…Bucky and I saved up some money to go to Coney Island. We spent every dime on rides and food. Eventually, we forgot that we didn't have any money for the train…" "You spent it all, not me. I was along for the rides," Bucky chimes in. "Again I say 'we' spend all of our money and didn't have a way home."

"What did you do then?" Heidi asks, curiously.

"We hitched a ride from a milk truck," Bucky answers and the two men laughed. "Took almost all night to get back home," Steve remarks. "God, my dad was pissed," Bucky said with a chuckle, "He made me get up early to do my chores." The girls laugh with them. "Tell us something about your childhood, Heidi," Steve asks. The woman bites into her hotdog while thinking of something.

"One day, my cousins and I were playing by a lake. Mind you this is during the fall so the water was blistering cold. One of my cousins dared me to jump in the water. I didn't want to chicken out so I took my clothes off and jumped right in." She smiles to herself while thinking of the memory. "I came out…crying to my mother because my fingers and toes were turning purple. My lips were so blue and my teeth hurt." "I bet she wasn't too happy," Sharon remarks. Heidi's smile widens and she shakes her head.

"She chased my cousins around to beat them. I was close to hypothermia. It's funny because Eric was the one who dared me. We were close when we were children…until he became king."

Her smile fades as her mind flashed an image of his dead body. Sensing her change of mood, Bucky wraps an arm around her to comfort her. "Want another?" he asks. She shakes her head. "I'm good." "Okay, I'll be back." He gets up to grab another hotdog. "That's your fourth one!" Steve argues with a grin. "Bite me Rogers!" he yells back. The two women laugh at the pair. After Bucky chows down on his hotdog, the four walk toward an open grassy area. Several people were sitting on the grass on blankets, facing a large screen. The movie was just starting as they found a spot and got settled in. Steve provided blankets for the girls and some candy treats. Heidi grabs for a Twizzler and leans against Bucky. He involuntarily wraps an arm around her. Sharon sits in front of Steve as she leans back on his chest.

Heidi didn't pay attention to most of the movie. Her attention was on Bucky's heartbeat and scent. At first his heart was beating rapidly in a nervous pace but it slowed down as the movie progressed. The smell of leather and pine soothed her nerves. When the movie was over, the guys took the girls to another park to watch the stars. Steve and Sharon walked a little ways from Heidi and Bucky to have a little alone time; which meant that Heidi and Bucky were alone as well.

For a while they were quiet, as they lay side by side while looking at the stars. She rolls her to side to face him.

"I had a great time," she says.

He smiles at her. "Me too." She leans over and kisses him gently. When she pulls away, she bites her lip anxiously.

"You're not doing this because you feel responsible for what happened to me, are you?" she asks. Bucky pulls himself up on his elbow and stares intently at her. "I'll always feel responsible…" She breaks eye contact but only to have his right hand touch her cheek, gently forcing her to look at him again. "But this is me being sincere. I really do like you." The way his icy blue eyes look at her gave her shivers. She licks her lips.

"Buck…I think I feel the same way, but…I can't forget the memories." It broke her heart to his face become disheartened. It was her turn to hold his face and she leans forward to touch his forehead with hers.

"But I know you are a good man, James. So I want to move forward. Just be patient with me." His mouth crashes against hers. She could feel his metal arm reaching for the back of her head, tangling his fingers into her hair. Her body shivers again. This time he pulls away and kisses her on the forehead. "Let's go home," he whispers. "What about Steve and Sharon?" "They'll be fine," he remarks as his eyes glances at the pair, making out under the stars. (end song)


	9. Chapter 9

On most mornings, at 5am, Heidi is wide awake. When jogging doesn't help with the overflow of energy, Heidi will go to the hotroom in the training floor and perform hot yoga. Sometimes Nat will even join her. This time, she's alone. She was in the hotroom for two hours until she finally felt calmer. She was sweating profusely in her sports bra and yoga shorts. Heidi rolls up her mat and leaves the hotroom. Steve, Sam and Bucky were stretching and warming up before their workouts. " 'Morning Heidi!" Sam says, being chipper and giving her a toothy grin.

Heidi couldn't help but smile. "Good morning Sam..." She nods at the super soldiers. "Cap...Buck..." As she saunters away, Sam couldn't help but take a peek at her ass again. Bucky caught him and smacked him on the back of the head. "Sorry," Sam muttered.

Heidi showered and changed into a maxi skirt and cami with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. After checking her emails and phone for any messages or reports, she didn't have anything else to do except make breakfast. Wanda woke up and joined her in making pancakes. Vision and Tony sat at the bar and conversed with the girls as they cooked. After stealing a few slices of bacon, Tony left to work on more suits. Vision mentioned something about working with Banner and left as well. When the girls finished cooking, Steve and the others were done working out. They were sweating through their shirts but the only one looking winded was Sam. Heidi smiled to herself when she noticed. She passes the guys some plates before she made herself a smoothie. She felt her phone buzz and answered it on the third ring. "Hello?" Hearing the person's voice on the phone she started speaking German. The conversation was going south so she took her smoothie and left the kitchen toward the balcony. She was able to talk more loudly out there.

Natasha joined the others in the kitchen and saw that Heidi took her call outside. "That doesn't look good," she says quietly. Steve and Bucky involuntarily look up at the newest member of the team. "I bet it's her cousin. He's been calling her a lot lately," Steve remarks before taking another bite of his pancakes. "Cousin? You mean the King of Austria?" "Well…the NEW King of Austria." Before Nat could say anything Heidi came back inside, muttering to herself angrily "Lazy...no good...shit," She stopped herself when she saw everyone staring at her. She tried to smile genuinely at them. "Sorry you had to see that. Excuse me. I have to..." She didn't bother finishing the sentence as she grabs her clutch wallet and keys before leaving. "That was weird," Natasha adds. Wanda was going to follow Heidi but Steve stopped her. "She probably needs to blow off steam. We'll check on her later."

Heidi found herself window shopping in the 'chic' shopping area of New York. She entered Vera Wang to look at formal dresses. After quickly deciding on a navy blue dress with a plunging neckline and exposed back she bought some shoes from Louboutin. She checked her watch and it read 11:46am. Close to lunch time but Heidi was starving. She took her purchases to the trunk of the car and walked to a French cafe. She sat outside and it wasn't long before a waiter approached her. "How are you ma'am?" "I'm feeling blue Linus. Can you get me the steak and salad..." she pauses, "Make that two. Someone will be joining me." "Certainly ma'am." As soon as the waiter left, Bucky came around. "How did you know?" he asks with a grin. He was dressed in jeans, a leather jacket and a ball cap. "You smell of soap, leather and pine. I will always smell you before I see you." He smiles. After about ten minutes the waiter brought their lunches and they scarfed their steaks down. "Everything ok? You didn't look happy when you left," he finally asks. Heidi shakes her head. "It's my cousin. He's wanting me to do his dirty work for him." "So the new King of Austria is asking you for help?" She nods. "Prince, well King, Nicolas was my cousin's estranged son. His dementia ruined the relationship when he started accusing Nicolas of being a traitor. But now that he's dead, Nicolas has taken over for him and asked me to help him occasionally." "What does he want?"

"He wants me to step in for him at this correspondence party at the White House. Several political figures from around the world will be there." Bucky was silent for a moment, trying to take it all in. "Why couldn't he come to the States? Why make you do it?" Heidi rolls her eyes. "Because he hates these social gatherings. He thinks it's a waste of time. I'm the only person he trusts right now. There's some groups back home speculating that it was him that killed his father. Since it was my fault, I figured it was the least I can do." The waiter came back holding a silver tray. "Pardon the intrusion ma'am but I was instructed to give this to you." On the tray was a simple white envelope. Heidi grimaces at it but took it anyway.

"Thank you Linus. Can you put the steaks on my tab please? Add an extra $50 for you." The waiter beams. "Thank you ma'am. Hope your day gets better." "Merci!" She and Bucky stood up and she opens the letter as the two walk to the parking garage. "Oh good I get to bring a date...two dates in fact!" "What's that?" "It's the official invitation to the dinner at the White House tomorrow." She turns to him. "Do you want to come?" Bucky blinked a few times. "I don't know if it's a good idea." "Don't worry about the CIA or anyone else. You've cleared your name and you're an Avenger now," Heidi argues. "Who's your other date?" he asks, looking at her suspiciously. Heidi smirks playfully. "I was thinking mayybeee Sam?" Bucky immediately frowns. Heidi couldn't help but laugh. "I'm kidding. Of course I'm taking the great Captain America too."


	10. Chapter 10

The following night...

"What's taking them so long? PEPPER! HEI! Let's go!" Tony yells up at the stairwell. "So how is it that you got an invitation too?" Steve asks. "I pulled some strings," Tony answers. "More like I pulled some strings," Pepper says as she and Heidi walk down the stairs. "My dress got snagged and we had to fix it," she adds. The guys couldn't help but stare as the girls descended the steps. Pepper wore a simple slim black dress with a diamond necklace hanging low to her cleavage. Heidi wore her navy blue dress with exposed back and low cut front. Her blond hair was curled and hung over her shoulders on one side. No jewelry except large glittering sapphire drops. "So we're carpooling in Stark's limo, right?" Heidi asks with a mischievous grin. Tony brought out the keys. "Let's do this!" He and Pepper went ahead. Wanda came up and smiled at Heidi. "Oh I wish I could go. You look amazing Heidi." "Thank you Wanda. I'll bring you something back," she responds with a wink. She turns to her dates. Cap is dressed in a tux with a navy blue tie and Bucky wore black on black tux and clean shaven. He looked so different it blew her away. "You guys look great!" she exclaims. "And you are...glowing, Heidi," Cap responds. Bucky just stood there blushing. "Thank you. Let's go before we're late." She takes both guys by the arms and they joined the Starks in the limo.

Within 45 minutes, the Avengers arrived at the White House. Cameras were flashing like crazy. People were all over the place. Heidi felt a little nervous all of a sudden. Being in the middle of a large group of people tends to make her uneasy; with her sensitive senses it can be too much at once. As the limo stop, Tony and Pepper came out first. Steve came out next and held out his hand for her. She takes a breath and exhales. She reaches out and holds his hand as she maneuvers around with the dress. They lock eyes for a moment. His eyebrows arch, questioning if she's okay. She gives the slightest nod in response. She feels Bucky coming out behind her. She takes his arm with her other hand. Cameras went crazy with them. Heidi put on her 'political mask' on and smiles at the cameras.

Once they entered the main atrium, they immediately spotted a familiar face. "Your Highness! It's a pleasure to see you again!" Heidi exclaims and reaches to give T'Challa an air kiss. "A pleasure as always Duchess! How is your cousin?"

"He's under the weather so I'm stepping in for him at this time. He's sorry he couldn't be here to see you," Heidi answers with a wink.

The King of Wakanda laughs. "You look beautiful this evening, Heidi. The color suits you. You certainly look like royalty," he remarks. Heidi couldn't help but blush despite that she can feel the tension behind her from one of her dates.

"You know who else looks like royalty?" She asks as she whisks out her cell phone. After tapping it a couple of times she shows him the screen of the snow leopard. The cat was sitting on Heidi's bed with his head raised up proudly, almost looking like he was smiling. T'Challa smiles. "He certainly does!" "You look regal like proud lion yourself." It was the King's turn to blush. Before he could say anything, a gentleman with a long mustache, curled at the ends, approached them excitedly. "Duchess! I was hoping you would be here! Before the festivities begin, could we discuss the contract details?" "Ambassador Ramirez! Yes, I've been meaning to contact you." Heidi turns to the guys, "Would you give us a moment?" "I'll get you a drink," Cap says reassuringly. Heidi nods and she walks away with the interrupting ambassador for a moment. T'Challa watches them. "It seems the Avengers' newest member is doing well," he remarks. "She is. We're lucky to have her," Cap answers, "And you?" "Busy, but all is well." He and Cap clasp arms. "Always know that the Black Panther is an ally to the Avengers. All you have to do is ask," T'Challa says more quietly to him. "Thank you." With that T'Challa leaves to converse with another diplomat. Steve turns to Bucky.

"You good?" Bucky was still watching T'Challa.

"Buck."

"Hmm." his head snaps to his friend.

"What's up?" "Nothing...I don't like the way he looks at her." "You just don't like him because he kicked your ass from before." Bucky rolled his eyes. "He did not."

Dinner was announced and everyone met in the dining room. A few speeches were made and toasts before dinner commenced. At that time Heidi was starting to feel unwell. With her sensitive ears, being in a large room full of people talking and glasses clinking and plates scraping was starting to grate on her. A headache was forming on her forehead. "Duchess?" "Hmm? Oh I'm sorry Colonel I'm feeling a bit…warm. What was the question?" "I was asking about your association with the Avengers. I assume because you brought Rogers and Barnes that you work with them?" "Yes, the King of Austria has asked favors of them a few times so I've become close friends with the two." The colonel didn't seem satisfied with the answer but he didn't press. "I see. I've heard you retired in the armed forces of Austria many years ago. Why was that? From your records you had four years left in your contract."

Tracker. Flashbacks of his limp body on the table...at Hydra's hideout... Heidi could feel the sting of tears starting to form in her eyes but she blinked them away. "Well, I felt that it was...simply time, Sir. Because of what I was able to accomplish during my service I was given honorable discharge." She felt Bucky's left hand reach for hers under the table and she clenched on it hard. "Understandable. I hope you don't mind me saying so but really the front lines are no place for women. I've seen enough in my times and, well, I don't see how our women can handle that sort of stress." Heidi was trying real hard not to punch this man in the face. He has no idea what she has gone through. She could bet he wouldn't make five minutes in a Hydra bunker. Ignorant fool. All she could do was nod. "You might be on to something Colonel," she says with a fake smile. Her hand still clings to Buck's throughout the dinner. With Bucky reaching out to her reminded her to focus on one thing at a time and not the entire symphony of the senses. Within a few minutes, her headache dulled and she released him from her grip.

After dinner and everyone was excused to roam until more speeches. Heidi went straight outside. The cool air was a balm to her headache. It even smells like it will rain. She loves it when it rains. "Are you alright Heidi?" T'Challa's voice growls. Heidi gasps. She didn't even hear him approach. "Forgive me for startling you. You looked distressed so I came to check on you." "I'm fine. Just need a little air," she responds with a smile. T'Challa nods knowingly. "When it becomes too much, like when I feel the room closing in on me, I mentally take myself to a happy place. I picture the times when my mother was alive; she used to tell me old fairy tales to put me to bed. Just listening to her voice soothed me." T'Challa looks off in the distance, distracted by past memories. "She sounds like an amazing person. I'm sorry I never got to meet her." She reaches for his arm and gave it a light squeeze. "Thank you T'Challa. I'll remember to try that next time." His dark chocolate eyes drilled into her. She can practically hear his heart pumping faster. It made her nervous all of a sudden. "Shall we?" she gestures back into the atrium. Without skipping a beat, T'Challa led her back inside. A diplomat catches him into a conversation he couldn't get out of, leaving Heidi to search for the guys on her own. She found Pepper and Tony instead. "Have you seen them?" she asks. Pepper nods her head behind her. "Cap's talking to the President while Bucky is brooding over there." She points in Bucky's general direction. "Thanks." Heidi approaches her date. He leans against a wall while his arms were folded up, people watching "Ready to go?" she asks. His blue eyes pierce her. "Are you?" he growls. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's up?" "Nothing…can't stand these people." Heidi gave him an encouraging smile and touches his left arm. "Come on. Once I'm done talking to the President then we can leave." He straightens up and walks with her to meet with Steve.

After the team thanked the President for inviting them, they left for the night. A storm began to rage on their way home. "Saw that T'Challa came to the party," Tony said nonchalantly. "Yes, it was good to see familiar faces," the blond added. "The King is quite the admirer isn't he?" Pepper asks with a mischievous grin. Heidi grins. "Yeah…well my cousin and King T'Chaka worked out a business treaty about five years ago and I've been their middleman the entirety of those five years. T'Challa and I became good friends during that time but, yes, you can say he does like me…" Everyone gave her knowing looks "The fact that he gave you a snow leopard as a birthday present is a dead giveaway," Tony adds. Heidi rolls her eyes but she smiled.

Once they arrived home everyone retires to their own living quarters. Heidi was in the middle of unzipping her dress when she saw Bucky walk past her room. "Hey Buck, could you help me?" She turns her back to him, showing the zipper she can't reach. He steps up and drops his jacket on her bed before pulling the zipper down but he didn't leave. Heidi turns back to him, with her arms crossing to keep the dress up. "Thank you." He simply nods. He still doesn't make a move to leave. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asks. Bucky shifts his eyes down at the ground before looking back at her. "I'm…I'm not sure…" He says as he clears his throat. He steps toward her, making her take a step back. "But what I do know…" He presses forward again, she slips out of her shoes and her bare back is pressed against the glass wall that shows the view of the city. "…is that I didn't like the way they looked at you…" He slams his left hand against the wall, next to her face. Heidi doesn't flinch but her breath staggers, "…in that dress." With his other hand, he pulls the dress down and his lips crashes on hers. Her hands touch his chest, instinctively to stop him, but his hand wraps around her waist. She can't escape him. So she slips her hands down to the buttons on his shirt and tears it off. She pulls him toward the bed and they fall, with him on top of her. The storm muffles their sounds throughout the night.

Heidi wakes up at five on the dot as always. She felt sore but stretched at the same time. Tired but energetic. It's still dark outside but the clouds are lightening up from deep purples to pinks. She turns to her side to see Bucky sleeping soundly. Heidi smiles. Gently she pulls some tresses out of his face. She slowly slips out of bed but was pulled back on bed when a metal arm wraps around her stomach. She heard him grumble incoherently to her. "Good morning," she whispers and twists around to face him. His eyes are still closed but he responds, "Morning…" "Go back to sleep. I'll make breakfast when you wake," Heidi says quietly. "Stay," he commands. "I'm too awake to sit still." Bucky smiles, eyes still closed. "You're insane, woman." She presses her lips to his before attempting to escape the bed again. This time, he let's go and falls back asleep. Heidi grabs a shirt and shorts to put on before heading out for her routine jog.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Maroon 5

After joining the Avengers, Heidi discovers that Tony Stark will make any excuse to have a party. But today was a legitimate reason to celebrate: it was his birthday. He turns 35. Everyone was actually exhausted from the workload they've been having lately so 'revels' was always welcome. Tony invited everyone to the Tower but he stated there will be an Avengers' only AFTER party. The party was a huge hit. Everyone was smiling, even loner Bucky.

Clint, Heidi, and Wanda were playing pool. Clint was obviously beating the girls. He takes the last shot with the eight ball. He fist pumps the air and the girls groan. "You girls should've known better than to think you can beat me," Clint says with a big grin. Heidi smiles back. "In this case, it pays to lose," she says as she takes her shot, clinks with Wanda, and shoots it. "Oh really?" She nods as she finishes swallowing the liquor. "I'm done," she remarks and walks away to go dancing with Pepper and Maria.

Rhodes, Sam, Thor and Tony were playing blind man's bluff at a table together.

Bruce and Natasha are conversing together alone.

Steve and Bucky were playing darts next to the bar.

"So if Steve can't get drunk, could you?" Maria asks as they dance. "Yes, I still can get drunk. Steve's serum is different from mine." "You look drunk," Pepper adds. The three girls laugh together. They leave the dance floor and sat down with Tony and the others. About an hour later, Tony makes it to the stage where the band has been playing.

"Excuse me everyone, I would like to say thank you for taking the time to join me for my birthday. As we come to a close for the night," People moaned, "I know, I know, but before we're done I want to give myself a gift." He points at Pepper. "Baby, we haven't had a dance in God knows how long. Get your sweet buns over here." Pepper, embarrassed, comes up to Tony, as he comes down to the middle of the dance floor. He gives the band a signal and they start to play 'She Will Be Loved'. The pair came together and started to slowly dance around the floor.

Slowly, couples began to join them on the dance floor. Natasha drags Bruce to the floor but he was smiling though. Vision takes Wanda to the floor as well. And Rhodes and Maria went together, leaving Heidi with Thor and Sam. They were content with watching. That is, until Steve came up to Heidi and held out a hand. "Heidi?" She looks up, surprised. "You're asking me to dance?" she questions. "Well it's either you or…Sam," he jokes. A smile spreads on her face. She takes his hand and stands up. He leads her into the crowd and takes her waist. "I didn't know you could dance," she says to him. "Well I had a teacher but that was about seventy years ago." They laugh together.

As she looks at his face, she notices something. "You're nervous…why?" "I'm not a good dancer," he simply states. She squeezes his arm reassuringly. "You're doing great Steve." They locked eyes as they danced with the crowd for a moment. Heidi saw something in his eyes. "Now you're sad." "Am I?" She nods. "I don't know why…" The statement broke her heart. He doesn't know but she does. She pulls their hands, that were linked together, toward her and kisses his hand. "It's ok Steve. Focus on the now." He swallows and nods. He turns her so that her back is to his chest and he wraps his arms around her front. They remained that way until the song was over.

After the usual party crowd left, now it was time for Avengers' After party, but it wasn't exactly a party Tony had in mind. He wanted to play some games. The entire team sat around the couches and chairs in a circle, some of them still drinking while others are relieving their sore feet. "So let's play a game…" Tony announces, "Truth or Dare." Some of the team members scoff. Others laughed. "Child's game," Clint remarks.

"Tony's the biggest child though," Natasha adds with a wink.

"It's my birthday. I do what I want. So I'm going to start with you Romanoff!" The black widow arches her brow.

"Truth."

"Lame! Ok, is it true that you like to be on top in the bedroom?" Some of the guy snorted in their beers. The girls smiled. Dr. Banner was blushing like crazy. Natasha was a blank face, until she grins back at Tony. "I like to be on bottom." Some people cheered and clinked beers together. "My turn," Natasha says and she scans around her. "Steve." "Hmm?" the blond questions. "Truth or Dare?" He takes a sip of his beer before leaning forward, facing Natasha.

"Dare." This got everyone excited. "I dare you…to finish your drink…" "Oh come on Tasha!" Clint yells. Some of the others made comments how lame the dare was.

"AND…" This quieted them.

"Thor's flask."

"Do you have any left?" Tony asks the Asgardian. Thor grins and pulls out his flask. Steve nods. "Done." He stands up and downs his drink with one gulp. He slams the glass down on the table. A couple people cheered. And then he walks over to Thor and takes the flask. 'This is going to be very regrettable tomorrow,' he thought. He pops open the top and starts to chug the flask. "YEAH!" Sam yells encouragingly.

Others, like Pepper and Bucky looked concerned. Thor's alcohol is way too strong for a normal person but it still can do some damage to an enhanced. He finally finishes the flask and shakes it to prove that it's empty. Everyone cheered and congratulated Steve. He can already feel the burn seep into his stomach. The super soldier turns to the birthday boy.

"Tony…Truth or Dare?" he asks. "Oh I don't back down from a dare," he remarks. Steve thought about it for a moment. He walks over to the bar, leans over to reach for something, and comes back with a box. "Is that a box of.." Rhodes questions but was interrupted by "DOUGHNUTS!" Tony squeals. Steve pops open the top to show everyone they're chocolate frosted with red white and blue sprinkles. But he wasn't done. Steve swaggers over to Pepper and starts to put a few in her lap. He turns his head to Stark. "You have to eat these doughnuts," he says slowly emphasizing each word, "Off. Of. Pepper's. lap." "What?! Don't bring me into this!" Pepper argues. Tony was turning red as a tomato. Everyone went insane. He walks over to his wife, kneels down, and starts to chew his way through the doughnuts. Everyone roared with laughter. Pepper was embarrassed as Tony was but secretly she was enjoying it. He, too, enjoyed Pepper's lap.

Once he was done, he aims his gaze at Heidi, who was sitting next to Steve. He points a finger at her. "TRUTH OR DARE HENDRICKS!" He yells. "Me?" He nods vigorously. She shakes her head. "No way in hell I'm falling for it. I pick Truth." He glares at her. "Fine. Is it true that you lost your virginity during Spring Break…in Greece?" Some of the team members gasped. All eyes were on her.

Heidi, defeated, shook her head. 'You win this time Tony,' she thought. She simply said, "Yes." She became bombarded with questions. When was this? Was he good? Was he a virgin too? "Ok! Ok! It was spring break during my college years. Several friends and I went to Santorini. We had a little too much to drink. I ended up puking my guts out at the hotel. One of my friends, Marcus, was taking care of me. One thing led to another and…well, you know the rest." After she admitted it, Bucky had his hands clenched in tight fists throughout the rest of the games. Steve even noticed his best friend's tense demeanor. It wasn't long until some of the team began to get tired or too drunk to even play anymore so the party ended. Tony and Pepper left together. Wanda, Natasha, and Vision helped Clint find a suitable bed. Rhodes and Thor crashed on the couches while Bucky drags a passed out Sam to his room. He looks at Steve and jerks his head to Heidi, silently asking him to take her for him. Steve nods back. She's leaning against a wall, obviously struggling to stand, and she slides down to her knees.

Steve came up to her. "Come on," he said in a low voice. He pulls her up easily and carries her to her room. He gently puts her down and takes her shoes off for her. "Thank you Steve," she says quietly. "No worries." He was about to turn away but she grabs his arm. He turns back at her. Her eyes are alert and sober.

"I mean the dance. I had a great time." Steve smiles. "Me too." She pulls herself up in a sitting position. "Then why were you sad?" Steve looks away but sits on the bed next to her. "I guess…I was thinking about the promised I made to Peggy." Heidi reaches out to touch his face. "Steve, you can't change the past. You can't live in it anymore. Be in the now. This is where you are supposed to be," Heidi says with conviction, looking into his blue eyes. Their eyes lock for a long moment. The connection drew her closer to him. He leans forward, touches her shoulder, but right before they could kiss she pulls away.

A second later, Bucky enters the room. "Goodnight Steve," she says and starts to crawl into her covers. Steve, realizing what was close to happening, got up and cleared his throat nervously. "Good night Heidi," he says and walks out of the room. Neither spoke of the incident again. Bucky, clueless to what happened, joins Heidi in bed. But he didn't wrap his arm around her like he normally did. He turned his back to her as he laid his head down. "You're not mad are you?" she asks. "Why would I be?" "Because you seem tense. It isn't about what I said, is it?" Bucky didn't respond right away. "James, that was a long time ago." "Can we just drop it?" he growls. Heidi rolls her eyes with annoyance. "Okay." She kisses him on the shoulder before rolling over to her side.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I most certainly do not own Elvis.

Christmas was around the corner and that has been putting the team in good spirits. Tony and Pepper decided they would go to Hawaii for Christmas. Thor, who didn't celebrate Christmas, went back home to Asgard, while some of the others would rather stay at the compound. Clint, who already invited Natasha to his place, extended the invitation to Steve, Bucky, Heidi and Sam. Despite everyone making plans for the holiday it was tradition that every year the team is given a secret Santa gift to someone else. Heidi drew Bruce.

The day before she was leaving with the others for their trip to Clint's house, Heidi went into Bruce's lab to leave his gift. Seeing that it was empty, it was the perfect opportunity to make it a surprise. She was carrying a small box, decorated in red paper with a big gold bow on top, to his desk when she noticed she wasn't alone anymore. A woman with dark brown hair twisted in a bun and dressed in a white lab coat was going through some papers on a nearby desk. Heidi has never seen her before.

"Can I help you?" she asks. The woman jumps and turns to her with a hand over her heart. She smiles gratefully. "Oh goodness you scared me!" Heidi puts the present down. "Sorry about that. I don't think we've met." The woman extends her hand eagerly. "I'm Dr. Sarah D'orsey. I've been working with Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark for the past few months. I was going over some notes before heading home for the holidays." Heidi gave her a suspicious look. "I've never seen you around before." "Right. Dr. Banner and I contact each other via email or on the phone. He told me to drop by if I needed anything. I hope its ok," the girl said with a sincere smile. Heidi still wasn't sure about her.

"What kind of work do you do?"

"Oh, I specialize in human genetics."

"Genetics, huh? What exactly is it you and Dr. Banner are working on?" Heidi asks. The girl shrugs her shoulders. She grabs a few files and says, "I'm sorry but that's classified information." Dr. D'orsey walks out from the office but not before she says, "Merry Christmas!" There was something about her that seemed odd to Heidi. For the moment, she ignored it and made sure the present was placed in a spot where Bruce would notice right away before leaving the lab herself. That evening, Steve, Nat, Sam, Bucky, and Heidi got into a large SUV and traveled to Clint's house. They also figured a road trip would be fun instead of taking a jet.

Eighteen hours later…

Natasha and Steve were in the front of the vehicle while Heidi was sandwiched between Sam and Bucky in the back. Everyone except Steve was asleep, until Nat's phone began ringing. Natasha stirs and answers the phone groggily, "We're almost there. Like twenty minutes I think." "Ok good. There's supposed to be a bad snow storm coming in. By the way, one of the cows is giving birth," Clint's voice answers. "Really? How exciting!"

"Exciting? Sure…if you want to call it that. Might need some extra help when you get here."

"Sure thing. See you soon."

Natasha hangs up and smiles at Steve. "One of the cows is giving birth right now." "In this?" Steve remarks while nodding at the sky. It was dark grey and a few flurries are already falling. "That's not good," he adds. "Wake up guys, we're almost there," Natasha says behind her. Sam yawns loudly and stretches out as much as he could. Heidi stirs and tickles Bucky's ear, who's head is on her lap, to wake him. The Winter Soldier blinks several times and pulls himself up from her lap and stretches too. In no time, they finally made it to the farm. Clint meets up with them in the parking lot; his hands bloody.

"Anything yet?" Natasha asks. Clint shakes his head. "She's not even pushing. I don't know if it's going to make it." "What's going on?" Heidi asks as she helps the guys unpack the vehicle. "Clint's got a cow trying to give birth but she's having complications," Clint's wife, who comes down from the porch, adds in. "Maybe I can help. Where is she?" Clint leads everyone to the barn. The cow was antsy and wouldn't stop moving around in her pen. Clint gives Heidi some antibacterial gel and she runs the stuff all over her hands before approaching the bovine beast. The cow turns to Heidi and lowers her head in a defensive stance. The blond raises a hand up to the cow.

"Easy girl…easy…" She never broke eye contact with the animal. She slowly comes closer to the cow and when she was able to touch her, the cow turns her head and rubs against Heidi's side. She was rewarded with loving backrubs. "Good girl…" Heidi takes a moment to get behind the animal. She feels around the belly and then gently and slowly pushing her hand inside the cow to feel for the calf. "She's not pushing because the calf is not wanting to come out right. If I can just…" Heidi takes her other hand inside and tries to gently push the calf around. The guys were very grossed out and ended up leaving the barn. Clint's wife and Natasha stayed in case they're needed.

About an hour later, the girls came inside the house. The guys had made themselves useful and made dinner. "How did it go?" Clint asks right away. "A healthy girl," Heidi smiles proudly. Clint silently thanked God and gave her a hug. "Thank you. Daisy is one of my favorite girls and I was worried I was going to lose her." "Not a problem. The calf started nursing right away too so all you have to worry about is keeping them warm during the storm." Clint nods in agreement. He looks at his wife and says, "Sorry. This is my wife, Laura. Sweetie, this is Heidi." The two women shook hands and gave each other warm smiles. "Again, thanks for helping out. Usually Daisy is not very friendly with strangers." "You can say I have a way with animals," Heidi responds with a knowing smile.

Later that evening, everyone settled into their rooms. Nat and Heidi shared the room with Clint's daughter while the guys utilized the living room. Sam took the couch bed while the super soldiers took the floor. They didn't mind. "Like living in the barracks again," Steve mumbles with a smile. Bucky snorts at his comment. "Idiot…you just HAD to join the army," he responds. "You didn't forget the package, did you?" Steve asks, suddenly remembering something. "Of course I didn't. It's sitting in the barn." There was a moment of silence before Bucky twists his head to the side to face Steve. "Do you think she'll like it?" After letting out a big yawn Steve says, "Of course she will." Satisfied, Bucky rolls over to his left side and falls asleep.

Early next morning the storm had stopped and the feeling of the air was silent and still. Nothing was stirring save a few birds chirping their morning greetings to the sun rising over the snow dusted trees. The house was deathly quiet save for the soft snores and crackling fire. That is until the man of the house rolls out of bed and walks out of the room. He takes the kids presents, hidden in the attic, and carries them to the living room so he can place the gifts around the tree. Being light sleepers, the guys slowly stirred and stretched. Hawkeye turns on the lights attached to the tree before noticing the guys were awake. "Sorry, tried to be as quiet as I can," he says quietly. "No worries. Those kiddos are going to be up shortly anyways," Sam responds with a dismissing gesture of his hand. To make room for everyone to sit in the living room, the guys rearranged the furniture so there's a big open space by the tree.

Laura and the other women quietly come down the stairs and greeted the guys. "Merry Christmas fellas," Natasha says with a big smile. Bucky approaches Heidi and takes her face in his hands before kissing her on the forehead. "Merry Christmas James," she says in a whisper. "Merry Christmas," he responds. His blue eyes were glowing in a way that Heidi never saw before. She couldn't help but beam at him. She joins the women in the kitchen to start breakfast. When Heidi turns on the pot of coffee, she looks out the kitchen window. The snow looked so pure and beautiful; it was breathtaking. Then she saw a fox running in between the trees, chasing a squirrel. Heidi gasps in excitement. "That mean old thing!" Laura groans, "That fox is always hanging around here. We try to scare him off with pellet guns but he always comes back." "I'm going to go check on the calf. Do you want me to feed the other cows while I'm out in the barn?" Heidi offers. "No! I'll do it," Clint says quickly. "I need to go check up on something anyways," he adds as he puts on his coat and boots. "Hmm. Strange..." the blond said to herself.

Her head suddenly perks up and she turns her gaze to the ceiling. "Here they come," she said more loudly. Sure enough, quick and loud thumps echoed in the house and the kids came running down the stairs.

"WOAH!"

"Santa came!"

The kids were ecstatic to see all the presents laid out by the tree. "Now you have to wait 'til your done with breakfast first!" Laura warns them. Natasha corrals them to the table and tries to distract them with a coloring book but their eyes were glued on the pretty presents.

After a few minutes, Clint returns and breakfast was served. Sam turns on Pandora from his phone to a Christmas station. Elvis' "Blue Christmas" began to play. "So Heidi, I understand you're from Austria. Do you celebrate Christmas?" Laura asks as she sips on her coffee. "As a matter of fact we do. Our traditions are slightly different." "Like what?" "Everything mostly happens on Christmas Eve. For example, we decorate the tree the night before Christmas and open gifts afterward. The parents usually decorate the tree and ring a bell to call for the children. It's usually a surprise for them." "Any songs?" "They're all about the same as the ones here in the States," Heidi responds. Remembering something her smile fell. She checks her watch for the time before getting up. "Excuse me. I'll be back."

She leaves the room and walks out on the front porch with her phone. Bucky and Steve watch her from out the living room window. Her voice was barely audible from inside but they knew who she was calling. "Is everything ok? I hope I didn't upset her," Laura asks around. Natasha squeezes her hand reassuringly. "No, not at all. She's just calling someone from back home."

After the kids were done eating they went straight to the tree and, with their dad's help distributing the gifts, started to open their presents. They had just started opening their first ones when Heidi came back inside. Her eyes were wet with tears but she smiled nonetheless. Bucky comes up and gives her a hug and she hugs him back. "I miss her so much," she whispered. "I know. I'm sorry you can't be with her...maybe next year?" She nods in his chest. "Maybe you can join me." "I'd like that," he says with a small smile. They sit down with the others and watch the kids scream with joy as they open their gifts. The Christmas music and the crackling fire made the house so homey and warm that it had put the Avengers at ease. This is exactly what they needed after all the hard work and stress they've been going through.

As the kids are wrapping up with opening their last gifts, Bucky sneaks away for a moment and comes back. "Looks like we have one more," Steve says with a knowing smile. Natasha comes up behind Heidi and covers her eyes with her hands. "Covering my eyes is not going to help you guys," Heidi says with a big grin on her face. Bucky, feeling anxious, brings in a brown box and sets it on her lap. Natasha releases her hands and the blond smiles up at everyone. "What's this?" The Winter Soldier clears his throat nervously before replying, "I hope it's not too early but...um..." He didn't know what to say to her.

"Open it already!" Sam roars with a mischievous grin.

The kids even came up next to her on the floor, curious about what's inside. Heidi lifts the top of the box and gasps loudly. She was speechless. The kids peeked inside and screamed.

"A PUPPY!"

A little gray and black pup with thick fur yipped at Heidi. A red bow was attached to its neck. She pulls it out of the box and brings the pup to her face. The puppy had icy blue eyes and a pink nose. It's a girl. Heidi's eyes swell with tears and she looks up at Bucky. "How did you..." "He asked me to look around for him since you guys were coming here," Clint interrupts. "Our closest neighbor just so happened to have puppies a few weeks ago. She's a German shepherd and husky mix," Laura chimes in. The puppy started licking Heidi's face affectionately. She holds the puppy to her chest in a tight hug as she stands up. "She's beautiful," she said in a squeaky voice and kisses Bucky intensely. When they pulled away, Heidi could see Bucky's blue eyes turning glassy.

"I hope it's okay. I was thinking you'd want a companion like Tracker again but wasn't sure..." "Yes, she's perfect!" The puppy yips loudly, making the blond laugh. Seeing the kids looking eager to pet and love on the puppy she hands her to them. "A puppy is a big responsibility you two," Steve says in a mocking stern voice. Everyone laughs with him. "Does she have a name yet?" Heidi asks Bucky. "Well...I thought of Sasha." "That's perfect. Thank you Buck," she says before leaning in for another kiss. "Merry Christmas Heidi," he murmurs in between kisses.

Later that day, the kids went out to play in the snow. Feeling the holiday spirit, Heidi, Nat, and Sam and little Sasha went out with them as well. The adults got into a serious snowball fight in the trees while the kids played with their sled on a hilltop. After a few hours, Heidi went to check on the calf and Daisy before retiring inside the house. Little Sasha pitter-pattered behind her. Suddenly feeling sleepy Heidi grabs a throw blanket and curls herself on the couch by the fire. Bucky joins her and scoops up the pup in his lap. Little Sasha burrows herself in his arm and falls asleep with them.

Dinner was a feast with a big ham and numerous sides to choose from. Wine was passed around with the adults while the kids enjoyed sparkling juice. Everyone ate so much even the super soldiers got sleepy from feasting. Laura went to put the kids to bed while the other adults laid around in the living room.

Feeling unusually warm, Heidi used the excuse to check on the calf to go outside. The cold air nipped at her face. The sudden change of temperature made her dizzy and nauseous. She takes a few steps away from the house before vomiting in the snow. Perhaps it was the food that didn't agree with her since she didn't recall drinking too much. Once she was done Heidi takes a long inhale of winter air before exhaling; already she was feeling better. Heidi covers the puke with the snow before she makes her way to the barn. After making sure the calf was nursing on her mama she sits down on a bale of hay, watching them. The blond smiles to herself. If she wasn't an Avenger or a Duchess, she could see herself living in the mountains on a farm. In the peace and quiet of nature.

About thirty minutes later, she gives the rest of the herd a few flakes of hay and then locks the barn up. Between the time she was inside the barn and now, the winds picked up and a storm was starting to brew. Flurries stung her eyes as she tried to walk back to the house. But something moved at the corner of her eye. Instinctively Heidi jerks her head to her right, staring at the trees skirting the woods. She watches what felt like a long time but she could've sworn she saw someone. 'Maybe it was a deer,' she thought to herself. She tries to smell the air but the storm was making it difficult to detect anything. The blond moves on back to the house but she still couldn't shake off the bad feeling in her gut.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own XX

It was time for the Avengers to return to the Tower. Clint stayed behind for a little longer to enjoy his family some more before going back. As much as they enjoyed the vacation, the team was happy to be back together again. The girls cooed over Sasha. Tony wasn't happy. "Another animal?" Heidi then remembered that she'd forgotten Alexi. "Oh nooo.." she says with a teasing smile. "Alexi is going to be jealous..." "Good," Bucky remarks as he passes by her with a smile.

(Together- The XX)

Heidi went to Bruce's office to greet him and to see if he had received her gift. He wasn't in his office but it looked like he was in the middle of something so she waited for him to return. She browsed around the lab, being careful not to touch anything. Most of the stuff on the boards and papers were just random numbers and mumbo jumbo to her. Heidi passes by the microscope she and Bruce used together once and peered inside to see if there's a slide inside. It looked like a blood sample but she wasn't familiar with it. Heidi looks at the label on the slide.

 **Steve R.**

'Steve?' Feeling curious Heidi peered at the notes, that were hand written, laid out next to the microscope.

 **Virility is strong.**

 **Norm possibility…17%**

 **S.S. possibility…83%**

Curious, Heidi read through the notes and began to piece together what they all mean. A shiver went down her spine. Holy shit! Heidi backs away from the table and grabs her cell phone. Her fingers punched a few buttons to send a text: **Come to the lab. Now.**

Completely shocked by what she discovered, Heidi's heart began to pound. Her body started to shake. The blond paced around the lab for a good ten minutes before Steve and Bucky came in. "What is it?" Steve asks. Heidi bit her lip before showing them what she has found.

Tony and Bruce returned to the lab after having a quick bite to eat. "So did you get the numbers for Barnes yet?"

"I was in the middle of working on them but haven't finished yet," Bruce responds.

They look up and saw the two super soldiers staring down at them. "Hey, what's up Cap?" Tony asks with a smile. "Have something to share with us?" Steve said coldly. "What do you mean?"

SMACK!

Heidi had come up behind Stark and hit him hard on the head with the side of her handgun. He staggers to his knees and groans from the pain. She turns and aims the gun at Bruce's face. "Oh no, you really don't want to do that," Bruce said nervously. "At this point I could give two shits," she responds. Tony pulls himself up and leaned against a table. His ear is bleeding. "What the hell Hendricks?" Steve makes two long steps toward Tony and punches him in the gut. Bucky approaches Heidi and reaches for the gun.

"Not like this," he said in a low voice. Gold eyes glance at him before lowering her gun and putting it away. She tosses the notes at Banner violently. "Explain what exactly you two have been up to." Tony grimaces and he leans over with his arms crossed against his chest, counting his ribs making sure they weren't broken.

"I know it looks bad but we can explain."

"Then start talking!" Steve roars.

Bruce nervously plays with his hands. "It just started out as a random train of thought… _'What will the Avengers look like in the future?_ '" He walks a few steps away and presses a few buttons on a computer. A screen appeared in midair. Random numbers and scribbles and gibberish to the super soldiers. "What is all this?" Heidi asks, her eyes never leaving Bruce. "These are equations we have come up with to determine…the possibilities."

"Of what?"

"With the help of Dr. D'orsey-"

"Dr. D'orsey?" Heidi interrupts, "The GENETICS specialist?"

"So you've met her?" Tony questions.

"Briefly when I left your Christmas gift," she responds while glaring at Bruce. The man smiles for a moment. "Thank you. I loved it." "Look, it all comes down to this," Tony starts, "We are not going to be here forever. You guys…perhaps a little longer than the rest of us. But who is going to watch over the Earth when we are gone?" The super soldiers glanced at one another, still confused. "We have to think about the next generation," Tony adds, "There's the Parker kid and maybe some more weirdos out there. But what if…"

Unsure of how to say it Tony stopped talking. Bruce filled in the gap. "Just from looking at you three alone, we were curious what the outcome would be." "Get to the point Bruce. What are you talking about!?" Heidi demands.

"Conception," he said in a small voice.

The trio was taken back by the word. Heidi steps closer to Bruce to get up in his face. "Are you saying…you've been studying us…to find out if we can have kids?" "And the possibility of them being super soldiers…if the genetics can be passed down to them," Bruce adds in. Heidi was shocked. She stepped away from him. "So why hide this from us?" Steve questions. "We wanted to have all the possible results at hand. We promised we did want to share it with you guys…" "This is personal!" Heidi snaps. Her golden eyes shot daggers at Bruce and he could see that she was hurt. "What made you think…it was okay to run experiments without my knowledge? You of all people should know how that feels…" Bruce tried to reach out for her, to comfort her, but she pulls away. "I know and I'm sorry. I should've said something earlier. We just got so wrapped up in it." "And bringing in a third party is risky, Tony. Who is this Dr. D'orsey?" Steve questions. "She's a genetic specialist and a damn good one too. She's worked through S.H.I.E.L.D. before but when that didn't work out she did her own research and we contacted her for her help," Tony explains.

Ignoring their conversation, Heidi crosses her arms over her chest while trying not to freak out on Banner. "So tell me Dr. Banner, what are my chances?" she asks in a stoic expression. Her reverting back to his last name made his stomach drop. Bruce gestures her to follow him to a computer screen. He pulls up her results before saying, "I don't know how to tell you this but…your chances of conception…is very small…1 in 134…even with," he gestures awkwardly at Steve and Bucky, "…them the possibilities are small. Even if you do get pregnant…there's a good chance the Formula might not accept it." Seeing her tear up, Bruce looks away. "I'm sorry Heidi." Without another word the girl swiftly walks past him and disappears from the lab.

Finding solace on the roof, Heidi went up and the first thing she did after seeing she was alone was scream. She howled in frustration and pain. She falls to her knees and smacks the floor with her hands. After the princess was born, Heidi fell in love with the girl. She knew then that she wanted to have kids; she fell in love with the idea of being a mother. But now…

She lies down and rolls over on to her back to stare at the stars, suddenly tired from screaming. Hot tears trickled past her cheeks to her ears and down to her neck. But now, she's not sure if she would want a child. With a strong possibility of her baby being a super soldier like herself, Heidi wasn't sure she would want to place that burden on her baby. She would want a normal life for them. But Stark made a good point at the same time. Who else would protect the Earth? She covers her face with her hands and sighs heavily. There are so many mixed feelings rushing through her brain. It was making her head spin.

Heidi woke up and realized she had fallen asleep on the roof. She gets up and looks at the sky. It was still dark but the sun was starting to come up. 'It's a new day,' she thought to herself. 'Time to go to work.' She makes her way back down to her suite and takes a long hot shower to melt away the aches in her bones and her heart. For the next couple of months, Heidi worked on finding Hydra and avoided Bruce for a while. It was even a bit awkward with Bucky too. The subject of kids felt strange and weird to discuss when they're still working out their current relationship. Until one night after making love during a lightning storm he held her close to him and said, "I love you." She was surprised at first since this was the first time either of them said it but she knew she felt the same. Heidi kisses him and says, "I love you too," in return. They still weren't sure what to call their relationship but at least they are aware of how they feel about each other.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Hollywood Undead

Bruce and Tony still worked alongside with Dr. Sarah D'orsey. Feeling bad for Heidi they worked on an idea that would give her more odds in becoming pregnant. What they haven't realized is that there had been a Hydra spy copying the notes and sending it back to HQ. This is a spy that no one would have expected it to be that was able to get access to the Avengers' Tower. They can come and go as they please and no one says a word. Hydra never lost sight of Heidi after trying to retrieve her back in Austria. In fact, they have implanted several spies working alongside the Avengers just as they did with S.H.I.E.L.D. Several spies reported that their Winter Soldier has joined them as well. This could be a great advantage to Hydra if they played their cards right.

The spy shadowing over the Banner and Stark project, saw what they were doing and reported back to HQ. When Heidi's handler discovered what Banner and Stark were up to, Dr. Steiner ordered a team to work on the same project to determine what results they would have on their end. Like their nemesis, Hydra wanted to focus on Heidi and their Winter Soldier, as well as Rogers and utilize his serum for possible future progeny. They called the project 'Golden Future'. Dr. Steiner had a spy sent specifically to watch Heidi for signs of anything that could indicate pregnancy, or if she was sexually active at all. Over the Christmas holiday, some plans had shifted for Hydra.

One day, the team got a lead on a Hydra spy's location and went to retrieve him. Steve, Bucky, Heidi, Tony, and Rhodes traveled to Japan to search for the spy. In the middle of Tokyo, Heidi, her companion Alexi, and Rhodes were on the rooftop of a building, scoping out the spy. While Steve and Bucky were undercover as civilians on the ground; Steve is pretending to be shopping while Bucky is sitting at a noodle stand. Tony stayed behind on the quinjet as backup. "If we find him, we can't lose this guy. He's our best bet in finding Hydra," Steve remarks on everyone's earpiece.

"That's not going to happen," Heidi adds in with a smirk. "THERE!" Rhodes yells, "He's five hundred yards south from Buck. Wearing a green army jacket and black beanie." "Got him!" "Found him!" Heidi and Steve said at once.

"Buck, don't make a move yet. He might get spooked," Steve says quickly. Heidi climbs down the building with ease; Alexi follows behind. "Let me get close to him and we can corner him," she says to her earpiece. "Copy that. Rhodes, keep your eyes on him." "Will do." Heidi dismisses Alexi and the cat disappears into an alley. She would really stand out with a snow leopard following her around. She works her way through the crowds while keeping her eyes on Bucky's backside. She touches his shoulder and leans in, "Hey sweetie." He greets her back with a smile. "Hey beautiful." He pays for the ramen and the pair walks away together, pretending to engage in a conversation while trying to get closer to the spy who was busy texting on his phone. Steve was trying to close in on him but as the spy looks up, he noticed Heidi and Bucky and starts to make a run for it.

"Damn it," Bucky mutters under his breath. All three super soldiers run after the spy. They split off from each other and chased him down. The spy was fast and was good at parkour. He leaped and bounded over trash bins and fences easily. But the trio kept up with him. For a good thirty minutes, they chased him through the streets. He makes a turn and sees that it's a dead end and was going to turn to his right but was greeted by Alexi. The beast growls and hisses at him. Two seconds later Bucky and Steve corner him. The spy starts to laugh. "I'm not scared of you Winter Soldier. You'll never make me talk," he says. He grabs for his gun in his pocket but Heidi's whip snaps it out of his hand. She comes up behind him and puts him on a choke hold with the whip as the guys grab for him and secure him. "He's not the one you should be scared of...it's me," she hisses in his ear. The spy didn't say anything but just sat there and smirk. "Good to see you too Tamer." Heidi was surprised but tried not to show it.

"You know me?" "I was there when they had you locked up...didn't you have a dog too?" he asks with a knowing smile. Rage suddenly overcoming her she backhands the guy in the face. "Tell us where Hydra is hiding...and maybe, we'll let you die quickly," she remarks. "Heidi..." Steve warns. She ignores him.

After his hands were tied behind his back and body checked for weapons or anything he might use on himself, Heidi picks him up and slams him against the concrete wall. "Where are they?" she demands again. "We're everywhere sweetheart. We have at least ten bunkers around the world...including in L.A." "Why haven't they come after us?" Heidi questions. "We've been searching for the Winter Soldier for some time but we never lost sight of you...we're just bidding our time."

"For what?" Steve questions.

The spy didn't say anything right away. He just stared at Heidi in a creepy way. "You know...you've got a bit of a glow to you Tamer." Unsure of what he meant, Heidi didn't respond to him. "We'll be coming for ya...and we'll take the Winter Soldier back as well...might even make something out of you Rogers...but all in due time." "That's not going to happen," Heidi says and leans forward in the guy's face. "Because I'm going to make sure Hydra burns to the ground until you are nothing but ash. Anything else you want to add in before we drop you off in jail?" The guy leans to the side by her ear before whispering, "Hail Hydra." In a swift movement he had dislocated his wrist to break free from his handcuffs and grabs Heidi's gun holstered to her thigh. Before she could stop him, he takes a shot. The bullet zips past her. She knocks him out with a punch and he falls down hard on the ground. "Moron..." she mutters.

But as she turns around, the guys were kneeling over something. The smell of blood suddenly invades her nostrils and she realizes what happened. She pushes past them and starts petting Alexi. The bullet had hit him on the neck and the blood was spreading through his fur. "No..nonononono...stay with me baby..." She was beginning to panic. "Rhodes. Tony. Bring the quinjet. We need help," Steve said on the earpiece. Rhodes arrived within seconds in his suit with the quinjet hovering over them. "Take us inside," Heidi says as she picks up the cat in her arms. Without questioning, Rhodes picks her up and flies her up to the quinjet.

(Paradise Lost-Hollywood Undead)

After he drops her off, Rhodes went back down to join the guys to deal with the Hydra spy. Tony comes to Heidi's side with a first aid kit. She opens it up and plucks out some gauze to stop the bleeding. She was shaking all over. "It's okay sweetie...it's okay...shh shhh.." The cat moans lowly and lays his head down. She uses a pocket knife to pull out the bullet and flings it away from her. The bleeding wasn't stopping. She can feel his breathing slowing. She knew in her heart of hearts that he wasn't going to make it but she didn't want to give up.

"We'll take him to a hospital. Dr. Cho is not too far from here. Maybe she can help," Tony suggests timidly. "Just go..." she said in a cold tone. When he didn't leave she turns to him and snaps.

"GO AWAY!"

Tony jumps and parks the jet. He went outside with the others, leaving her alone with the dying cat. Not knowing what else to do she pulls him up in her lap and brushes him with her fingers while feeling for his breathing. The cat pulls his head up to look at her and they lock eyes for a long moment before he slowly blinks. Too tired to hold his head up, Alexi lets his head drop. Tears stream down her face. Her lips quiver. She knows what she has to do; she just doesn't want to do it. Her shaking hand reaches for her other gun in her pocket. She cocks it and holds it against the cat's head. "I'm sorry baby boy...I love you," she whispers.

The guys huddled together in a discussion for a plan while the spy, now awake, was practically hog tied on the ground next to them.

Bang!

The sound made them all jump. Steve and Tony had their eyes shut and their lips pressed tightly. Rhodes's head fell and he said a quiet prayer. Bucky's hands clenched and he eyed the spy with a cold look. A minute later, Heidi comes out. She stops for second when she saw her teammates turn to her. Alexi's collar was hanging in her hand, splattered in red. Her hazel/gold eyes snap to the spy and she quickly strides to the man.

"No, Heidi! Wait!" Steve yells. He tries to stop her but she quickly punches him in the face before reaching for the spy. She pulls him up and twists behind him while choking his neck with the collar. The spy's eyes bulged and he struggled against her. Her eyes never leaving Steve, challenging him.

"Let him go! Now!" She didn't waver.

"Damn it Heidi!" Steve lunges for her but she steps away from him. The spy falls to the ground, no longer breathing. "Damn it! You've jeopardize the mission...again!" "How many more of the ones I love will they take!? How many more will have to die?" she shrieks with rage. Steve had nothing to say. "Will be you? Bucky? All the others? What is it going to take!?"

"We'll get them Heidi but we have to work as a team. We both know they're clever. We can't do it alone," Steve says sternly, trying to reason with her. "That spy played you. He knew what he was doing from the moment we caught him. You were his way out," he explains. Heidi shakes her head and run her hands through her hair in frustration. "I know," she responded with a quivering voice. Bucky approached her and touched her arm reassuringly. She pulls away. For the time being, she had no room for affection. "Let's just go. At least we know where to start looking. We can get back and start combing L.A." she said coldly and walks back to the quinjet. The rest of the team silently followed behind, hauling the dead spy with them. Heidi didn't let Alexi go during the flight back. She didn't say anything to the others and they, unsure what to say to comfort her, didn't utter a word either.

Halfway back home, Heidi was suddenly feeling ill. She gets up and walks toward the back of the jet and crouches over a bin and violently vomits. "Woah, sick passenger," Rhodes says and went to check up on her. Bucky, worried, went to help her too. She waves them away. "I'm fine. Just stay back before I throat punch you," she said before getting sick again. The guys grimaced from the smell and the sounds of her throwing up. "I'll get some water," Rhodes remarks and left. When the girl was done she sits down and leans back against a wall.

Bucky crouches next to her while giving her a worried look. "I'm fine. Just…probably the aftershock of…everything," she mumbles. He nods and pulls her to him. She let's him hold her. "I'm sorry about Alexi. I know how much he means to you." Heidi starts tearing up and hugs Bucky back. "I just can't believe he's gone." She started to feel ill again and pushed him away before hurling into the bin. "I don't think it's stress Heidi. You might be sick," Tony says as he hands her some water. "Or it could be the Formula attacking your body," he adds. "It's never done this before…so why now," Heidi said as she swigs the water. "Dunno. Let's take a look at you in the lab when we get back," he suggests. The blond shakes her head. "No. I have to…"

She gestures her head to Alexi, "After…I'll come by. My being sick can wait." Tony nods understandably.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Bruno Mars

(It Will Rain-Bruno Mars)

When the team returned to the Tower, Natasha and T'Challa joined them on the roof. Tony, Rhodes, and Steve came out first with grave faces. "Is everyone ok," Natasha asks with a worried face. "More or less," Steve answers and looks behind. Bucky comes out while carrying Alexi; Heidi, wobbly from the nausea, follows behind. T'Challa rushes to embrace Heidi. "I had to come as soon as I heard," he said in a low voice. "I had to…there was no other way," Heidi's voice hitched. "I know dear. I know. I'm sorry you had to do it yourself," he responds while comforting her by running his hand through her hair. He finally let go and turns to Bucky. Tears welled in his dark chocolate eyes and he pets the beast. "He was a good companion. His spirit will run forever in the afterlife," T'Challa said solemnly. "I can take him with me back to Wakanda...have him buried in the palace gardens." "No," she said roughly and gives her friend a cold look. "We'll burn his body but there's something I want to do first." T'Challa nods. Everyone went inside the Tower. Heidi took the leopard and disappeared for a while, after stating she wanted to be alone. Tony went to inform Bruce about Heidi's sickness and the pair waited for her in the lab.

A few short hours later, Heidi joins them in the lab. Her eyes were red from crying but the guys didn't say anything. "So what do we need to do? A blood test?" "That would probably be best. I can see if it's the Formula acting up," Bruce remarks. So they took two vials of blood from her. Tony took one while Bruce took the other. "We'll text you when we have results," Tony says to her. Heidi nods and leaves the lab. She went to T'Challa and the two made tea and sat together on a balcony, overlooking the city. "Thank you for coming. Who told you?" "Would you be surprised that it was Barnes?" She was.

"Really?"

"Yes. I don't think he would want me to tell you that though."

"I wasn't sure how I would have told you."

"I understand. But Heidi," T'Challa states and shifts his gaze to her from the view, "Don't let your anger destroy you. You WILL find Hydra and you will have justice. But don't let it corrupt you. Don't let it change who you are." Heidi didn't respond right away. She kept her vision at the sun setting over the city. "It's hard. Steve and the others try to rein me in but…I don't know…I lose myself and before I know it there are dead bodies." "You were never like that before." "I know…that's what scares me." "Don't be afraid to open yourself up to others. Granted you and I have known each other a long time, so I know what goes through your head…but don't be afraid to let someone else in…He might surprise you." Heidi finally turns to her friend. "Who do you mean 'he'?" "I think we both know who I mean." They were silent for a moment and then they made small talk. Shortly after, T'Challa mentioned that he had to return back home. She escorts him to his chopper waiting for him on the rooftop. They embrace and he kisses her on the cheek. "Take care of yourself," he said. "You too. Thank you again for coming." "Always here for you." She waves goodbye to the King of Wakanda.

A few days later, the team got another hit on a Hydra spy. This time, Heidi was determined to catch him. Along with her usual black leather suit she added another accessory. Alexi's pelt wraps around the right side of her hip with his collar attaching the head to the hind leg on the other side of her hips. The tail portion trails behind her. Her suit felt complete to her. This time, they found the spy in D.C. Heidi, Natasha, and Sam were able to catch him. What disturbed them was how easy it was. Once they have brought him to the compound for questioning, they met up with Steve. Natasha gives him a file of the spy's information. "His name is Schmidt Parker. He used to be an intelligence officer in Germany but after being dishonorably discharged he joined Hydra," Natasha explains to Steve as they watch their hostage through a double mirror glass. Sam was trying to interrogate Schmidt but no such luck. After trying to get information for about an hour, Samgave up and left the room. "He's not going to crack any time soon." "Let me try," Heidi suggests.

Steve cocks an eyebrow. "Why? So you can kill him. We need him alive." "I understand that. But let me try," she urges. She stares intently at Steve until he sighs. "Okay. But if you step one toe out of line, you're done." She nods and enters the room. Bucky goes in too but stands by the door in case she goes too far. She takes her position in front of the spy. He just glares at her. "What were you doing in D.C. Schmidt?" she starts. Nothing. "Look we can do this the easy way or my way. It's entirely up to you." "Let me guess…if I don't talk you'll kill me?" the man finally spoke. Heidi smirks. "Oh killing you would be the last thing I want to do…at least for a while." Schmidt looks her up and down and recognition filled his eyes.

"You're Tamer…" "What's it to you?" His smile creeped her out. "It means everything…you know you're looking a little on the green side." Getting tired of playing the word games Heidi pulls out a pocket knife and plays with it. "Schmidt, if you don't start talking in the next two minutes I'm going to have to start peeling off some finger nails." "So you don't have a clue, do you?" "What are you talking about?" she questions. The man snickers and glances at Bucky. "What's it like with that tight ass?" He jerks his head at Heidi. "I bet she's a screamer." Bucky backhands the spy so hard that he fell over in his chair. Heidi comes over and pulls the guy back up. She slips the knife over his throat from behind and leans close to his ear. "Where is Hydra hiding?" "He's that good, huh…he must be if you're willing to shack up with Hydra's deadliest asset."

"Shit," Steve mutters.

Heidi pulls the knife away only to smash the man's face on to the table a few times before releasing him. Despite the fact he was spitting out teeth the spy began to laugh. "Did I strike a nerve?" "Where is Hydra hiding?" "We're everywhere…" "That's what the last one said. Give me a location." She grabs a hand and aims the knife to his thumb to pluck out a fingernail. The man screams and grunts. "Give. Me. A. Location," she said menacingly. She pulls off another one. He screams again. She was about to take off another one when Bucky grabs her arm. Her head snaps at his direction. Bucky shakes his head. "That's enough," he said in a low voice. In a flash she slips her knife back in her pocket. She uncurls her fingers and rolls her shoulders back to calm herself. Heidi backs away to face the mirror wall. "We're done here." She and Bucky leave the bleeding spy in the room to himself. But by the time they reached the door Schmidt yells out, "Steiner sends his regards!" Heidi freezes at the name. "He says he misses you, his favorite girl!" Bucky grabs a hold of Heidi before she could make a move. "Keep going," he said as he pulls her to the door. Heidi was shaking by the time they reached Steve and Nat. "He's not going to talk. What do you want to do with him?" Bucky remarks to Steve. "We'll have to find another way. In the meantime," he gives Heidi a look, "he has to stay alive." She scowls at him but nodded. "Understood." A moment later, she received a text from Bruce telling her to come to the lab. "I've got to go."


	16. Chapter 16

Heidi made it to the lab and from the uneasy looks on their faces, Heidi was on alert. "What's the matter?" she asks hesitantly. "Well…good news there's no infection of any sort that's making you sick. Nor is it the Formula," Tony starts. "Okaaayyy." She was starting to feel nervous. "But we figured out what is going on," Bruce adds in. "Alright. What is it?" Tony pulls out a sheet of paper and hands it to her. She takes it and all she saw were numbers and words she can't quite pronounce but at the bottom, in bold letters, it said:

 **Positive**

Heidi jerks her head up at the men. "Positive for what?" Her heart starts to pound in her chest. "You're pregnant," Bruce answers. The two men looked at her in anticipation. The words played in her head over and over but it still wasn't registering in her head. "W-What?" "You're pregnant Heidi. We didn't this was going to happen so soon," Bruce says with a tentative smile.

Pregnant.

She's pregnant.

"Are you sure?" Her hands were shaking. Tony, unlike him, takes her hands in his and says, "It's ok. It's going to be ok. This is a good thing, right?" "I-I…I guess…um…" She swallows the saliva built up in her mouth. "But you said it was damn near impossible so…how is this happening?" "I said it would be very difficult but not impossible. Just sheer luck I suppose," Bruce answers. "Can we assume that Barnes is the father?" Tony asks curiously. Bucky. Oh dear God. Heidi turns away from them and throws up on the floor. "Oh God…" she muttered. How is he going to take this? What if he's horrified? "Easy does it," Tony says as he hands her a towel. She wipes her mouth and tries to clean the floor. As she stands up she turns to Bruce. "So what does this mean? Will…Will the baby be…special? Will the Formula be transferred to it?" Bruce slowly nods. "We've done the numbers. With you and Bucky conceiving…yes, your child has a 93% chance in having your Formula and whatever he has as well."

"So technically, your baby will be a super soldier like you two," Tony chimes in. Bruce gives him a glare. "Will it be harmful? How will it affect the baby while it's inside me?" "That's the thing. We're not sure," Dr. D'orsey's voice calls out from behind Heidi. The blond turns to the woman. "But we can help you Heidi. We'll have regular checkups on you and the baby. I'm confident that everything is going to be okay," Dr. D'orsey says with a smile. "How can you be so sure?" Heidi asks. "Because I have faith in these two and in you. We are going to make sure this baby comes out healthy. I, once, was an OBG YN practitioner. If you're okay with it, I'd be honored to assist the birthing." Heidi had strange feeling about the woman but if Tony and Bruce trusted her then why shouldn't she. "Do we know how far along?" Heidi asks the doctor. "From your hormone levels I'd say about three and a half months. We should do an ultrasound soon." "So...this is real…I'm pregnant…" Heidi said, mostly to herself. "The first baby Avenger," Tony says cheerfully. Both Heidi and Bruce gave him 'what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you' looks. "What? This is good. We need some good news for once since this year has been crappy." Heidi sighs heavily and looks down at her belly. "Let's go tell your father."

She still couldn't believe it. It was all she could want right now. But at the same time, new fears enter her mind. What if the Formula attacks the baby? What if the baby comes out deformed or worse? What if her child resents her and Bucky for making them special? So many thoughts were floating in her head as she searches for Bucky. She found him still in the interrogation room with Steve and Sam. Seeing her approach them, the guys stopped what they were doing. Bucky came up and kissed her. "What's up?" he asks. Heidi pursed her lips. She glances at Steve and Sam before responding. "Can I talk to you alone?" she asks. She was rewarded with a worried expression. "Sure."

The pair left the room and Heidi takes him to her safe spot: the rooftop. "Is everything ok?" he asks. "Well…it depends…umm I don't know how to tell you this but…" Tears began to pool in her eyes. This made Bucky really nervous and he takes her face in his hands. "What is it?" he demands. His piercing blue eyes stare down on her golden ones. "I'm pregnant." Bucky's eyes grew big. He was silent and still for a long time it was starting to scare her. "James?" His eyes became glassy. "Really?" he asks, a small smile spreads on his face. She nods. His fingers wiped away the tears falling from her face. "That's…that's amazing." He releases her face only to embrace her in his arms. She smiles but couldn't stop shaking and crying. "I was so worried," she said in his chest. "Why? This is great." "I wasn't sure how you would feel about this. Bruce and Tony…they told me before it was near impossible for me but now…" Bucky rubs her back reassuringly. "It's a sign. Things are going to get better," he shares. "God I hope so."

The pair went back down and shared with Steve and Sam the good news. It didn't take long for the whole team to find out. Everyone was happily surprised by the news. The girls were thrilled for Heidi and the gentlemen slapped Bucky on the back and congratulated him. "To the FIRST baby Avenger!" Tony toasts and bottles of champagne were passed around. "So since the two of you have been genetically enhanced, would the baby be born with it too?" Pepper asks. Everyone became silent, curious too. "We are not sure. I'm going to be doing a lot of diagnostics tests with Tony, Bruce, and Dr. D'orsey to see if we can determine how it could affect the baby. As far we know, it's healthy. And that's all I can ask for," Heidi responds carefully.


	17. Chapter 17

Within a few weeks the news media got wind of Heidi temporarily retiring as an Avenger because of her pregnancy. The news spread like wild fire all over the globe. While people were thrilled of a beloved public figure like the Duchess of Austria being pregnant, it made others nervous and scared.

 _"Who's to say this won't start a new generation of genetically enhanced people…or mutants," an angry politician retorts to the screen, "This could be a dangerous situation. If the Duchess' baby is born genetically enhanced, would it be a danger to public safety some day? Besides, we have no clue who the father is. Is it one of the other Avengers? If so, there's a big chance that this baby could be a human weapon," he argues. "But we're talking about a person not even born yet Senator," the news anchor states. "But we need to make precautions now!"_

Heidi turns off the t.v. She was tired of hearing about her and the baby so negatively. She gets up and enters the kitchen to make some warm tea. "Do you want some?" she asks Bucky. He just shook his head, not leaving his gaze from the blank television. The Avengers never thought the world would be divided this way. Who would've thought people would be outraged by a baby? After brewing a mug she joins him on the couch. He wraps his arm around her protectively. "I'm scared," she simply said. "I know. Me too…but we've got each other."

"And Steve…" she adds.

"And Nat…" A small smile starts to appear on his stony face.

"And Wanda and Vision."

"Even Sam and Stark, shockingly."

"Don't forget Bruce, Sam, Rhodes, and Clint," Heidi remarks and snuggles closer to him.

They were interrupted when they heard footsteps enter the living area. The pair got up from the couch and turned to see Steve and Tony with Maria Hill. "How are you feeling Heidi?" the woman asks. "Restless. What can we do for you?" the blond responds. Maria shifted uncomfortably. "I suppose you've been watching the news," she starts. Heidi rolls her eyes. "Unfortunately it's unavoidable." "Well…I'm here on behalf of the Secretary of State" Bucky steps forward defensively. "Why?" he asks in a low voice.

"Because they're wanting Heidi to be…well, I don't know how to put this, but…they want her to disappear. At least until the baby is born," Maria fumbles. "What exactly do you mean?" Heidi asks as she glares at the brunette. "Just hear her out guys," Tony interjects, "We talked with Maria and we've thought we can conduct some measures that would make the U.N. more comfortable." "We?" Heidi snorts. Steve shifts his eyes away from the pair. Heidi chuckles to herself. "Unbelievable, so you two have been working things out without discussing anything with me first?" "We're discussing it now! Even Bucky was aware of this," Tony adds. Heidi jerks her head to her partner. "Oh really?" she mutters. "Heidi, the world is scared. We need to put them at ease by showing them good faith," Steve explains.

The woman crosses her arms and steps up to him. "And what exactly does that look like Cap?" she demands. Her golden eyes were glowering at him. "You're pretty much grounded, well, under house arrest," Tony responds bravely. "What?" "But regarding your political title you can still travel and make public appearances for work but you are temporarily retired as an Avenger," Maria explains, "Ross agreed to it as long as you are with two or three members of the team or a squadron assigned to you." Heidi snorts again and backs away. "Unbelievable. You expect me to agree to this? It's hard enough that I can't go on missions. Now you want to lock me up like an animal…" she walks away to grab her tea and chucks it at a wall.

"So that the world can forget that I'm dangerous…that my baby is dangerous. This is the thanks I get after all that I've done for the safety of the world before this." She flips the table and smashes it to the ground to pieces. Tears fall freely down her cheeks. Bucky reaches out to her to hold her but she smacks it away and points an accusing finger at him. "How dare you go behind my back!" she hisses. "Heidi, I'm sorry but Steve is right," he says slowly, stepping forward again. She just shakes her head at him. Her lips quiver. "I don't want anything to happen to you…or the baby. I don't want people to see you as dangerous. This is to protect you. It's only temporary." Heidi was silent for a moment, unable to think of anything to say. She starts to walk out the room but as she passes Maria she says, "Guess I have no choice."


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Brandon Flowers

Bucky and Steve have more or less grounded Heidi to the compound. She's not even allowed to leave without at least two others with her, in case Hydra tries to do something, or if the Secretary decided to label her dangerous. After a few weeks of being 'grounded' Heidi received a package with no return address. When she opened it there was a letter.

 _Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! I'm pleased to see that you and the Winter Soldier have grown fond of each other. Your progeny will start the new era we've been hoping for- a golden future. We can't wait to meet the child and, some day, utilize it for the good of Hydra. In the meantime, I wish you well my dear._

 _-Steiner_

Heidi's shrieks scared everyone on the same floor. Bucky and Steve were the first to reach her. "What is it?" She thrusts the letter to them. After reading the guys gave her grave faces. "Steiner?" Steve asks. "He was in charge of me. My handler." Bucky takes her in his arms. "Not going to happen. I promise. I'll kill them all if I have to," he said in a deep voice that even scared her. "We'll make sure that no one comes after you or the baby…but you'll have to work with us too," Steve replies. Heidi nods. "I understand." That night after Heidi and Bucky made love, they started to fall asleep in each other's arms. She was staring into his eyes while pulling tendrils of his hair away from his face. His gaze never wavered from her face. "Marry me." She blinks several times. "What?" Bucky pulls himself up and leans on his elbow. "Heidi Hendricks, will you be my wife?" A smile slowly spreads across her face. "Do you mean it?" He chuckles. "I'm an old-fashioned man. If I didn't mean it I wouldn't have asked." "If you're an old-fashioned man…where's the ring?" she asks playfully. "Tell me your answer first." Heidi brings herself closer to him to kiss him hard. She pulls away and says, "Yes. A thousand times yes." They kiss again. He rolls himself on top of her and they make love once more. Afterward, he presented the ring; it's a simple, thin white gold band with a pear shaped diamond on top. "It's perfect," she says as she puts it on.

(Only The Young- Brandon Flowers)

They decided to make the wedding quick, and quiet. They didn't want the media to get wind of it and making the pregnancy an even bigger issue. Bucky didn't want the world to view the baby as the Winter Soldier's child. His name still has a negative impact in some places around the globe. After two weeks of the proposal, they did it on Clint's property by a lake. They were able to sneak away without the Secretary of State knowing about it. It was secluded but beautiful. The team was, of course, invited. Reluctantly, they allowed Tony to officiate. He bugged them so much that they finally said yes to let him marry them. But under one condition, he wasn't doing it in the suit.

Sasha was the ring bearer. She wore a flower wreath around her neck with the rings attached on a ribbon. Bucky wore his old army uniform that was, surprisingly, in good condition. Steve, obviously, was his best man. Heidi had Wanda be her maid of honor. Heidi wore a long bell sleeved ivory dress with a cathedral length veil held by a flower crown on her curly blond hair. The baby bump made the image more beautiful to everyone. As she walks down the aisle alone, everyone was in awe. Bucky's eyes stung with tears. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her. Ever since she began to trust him and their relationship deepen, he realized that she was the living entity of a second chance. A second chance at having a normal-ish life with the love of his life, a family, and a sense of purpose. Seeing her in the dress with her baby belly…nothing made him feel the way he was feeling right now. He was overflowing with joy. He takes her hands in his and the two smile at each other. "Hey beautiful," he whispers. "Hi," she says back, practically beaming.

"James Buchannon Barnes, do you take this beautiful woman to be your wife," Tony starts.

"I do," he responds as he holds her hand.

He takes her wedding band and places it next to the engagement ring. Heidi takes his band in her fingers.

"Heidi Eliza Hendricks, do you take this man to be your husband?" She places the ring in his finger.

"I do."

"Then by the non-existent power invested in me, I pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Bucky Barnes."

Everyone cheered and hooted as the couple share their first kiss as a couple.


	19. Chapter 19

For the next few months, Heidi was going insane with all the pent up energy she has. All she could do was exercise but even then she had to be careful not to overwork herself so she figured this would be a good time to train Sasha like Tracker. The husky/german shepherd mix showed some promise of a good companion. Weekly, she met up with Bruce and Dr. D'orsey. Initially there was a small team assisting Dr. D'orsey but Heidi became nervous with so many people poking and prodding her that she demanded that they leave. Just Bruce and the doctor. As the second trimester came to a close, Heidi figured out another way to release her stress and energy. Sex. And lots of it. Either she's with Bucky or she's running laps in the training room. As tired as he was with her demanding sex, he also couldn't help but be aroused by her growing belly. His favorite pastime is watching her sleep naked. Sometimes he'll gently press his head on it, in hopes to hear something. Other times he'll just caress and feel her stomach. The first time he felt a kick he couldn't stop grinning for hours. But deep inside he felt uneasy. The team hasn't seen any activity with Hydra for a while now. He would've thought there would have been more activity. It's as if they disappeared but now Bucky is on to them. He knows they're buying time to come up with a plan. The more time passes by the antsier he got.

Dr. D'orsey gently presses the rod up Heidi's hoo-ha and turns on the ultrasound monitor. "Everything looks great. As a matter of fact, I think it has grown bigger."

"I feel like I'm about to explode. And it's supposed to get bigger?" Heidi complains.

"Unfortunately yes," the doc says with a smile.

"So…do you want to know what you're having?" Heidi glances to her left to a smiling Bucky. "Of course we do," he responds.

For effect, the doctor was quiet.

Then she says, "It's a boy."

Heidi gasps in surprise and starts to cry. Bucky smiles and clenches a fist excitedly. "Your baby boy will be due in two months, so…an August baby." The couple were still grinning as they left the lab. "You know what this means too right?" Heidi comments. "What's that?" "James…with our line of work…and its hazards…we've got to pick out godparents." He agreed and the two began discussing their options, along with baby names. A few days later, they called the whole team together. "We wanted to share with everyone that..." Heidi starts and gives them a big smile. Wanda gasps, already knowing what it is. "Baby Barnes is a boy," Bucky adds in.

Everyone cheered and hugged the pair. "Have we picked out names yet?" Natasha asks. "Yes. He'll be Alexander...Steven…Barnes," Heidi responds. Steve was glowing with joy. A couple of the guys slapped him on the back. "We also, wanted to announce that we've picked godparents as well," Bucky remarks. "I know it's a bit morbid to think about it but we feel it's important to establish a plan of action," Heidi explains. "Obviously," Bucky starts and points at his best friend. "What? Really?" Steve was like a little kid. The two men gave each other big bear hugs. "He gets the middle name AND the godfather title?! Totally unfair!" Tony retorts playfully. "We know that you'll direct our son on the right path. And, God forbid, if we are gone, we have faith that you'll make him a good man," Heidi says, getting teary-eyed. Even Steve was tearing up. "Thank you guys. I'm honored." "Because you're the godfather, we also felt that the best godmother would be Nat," Heidi announces. The redhead was stunned. "Really?" Tears flooded her eyes. "I know you'll love him as a mother Nat. I know you'll kick his ass into shape too," the blond jokes with tears. "What do you say Romanoff?" Bucky asks. Speechless, Natasha could only muster a vigorous nod. She may never have a child of her own but she knew she could love this baby as if he was hers. The two women embraced. "Thank you," Natasha whispers to Heidi. "No, thank you."

When the last month of pregnancy arrived, everyone was feeling antsy. Not just the couple but all of the Avengers. Everyone knew there's going to be a fight. When Bucky shared his concerns with Steve, they got with Tony and started to make a plan. Tony and Steve sent out word to friends who could lend a helping hand. It didn't take long until the first recruits came to the compound.


	20. Chapter 20

One morning Heidi wobbles to the kitchen. She opens the fridge and grabs the milk. As she shuts the door, something at the corner of her eye caught her attention. Her fingers flex for a knife and flung it at the ceiling. Someone jumps away in time and hops down next to her with his arms stretched out. She pulls another one out and points it at him. "Woah, woah!" He's just a kid! "Who the hell are you?!" Heidi roars. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Mr. Stark-" the kid started but was interrupted when Steve and Vision came rushing into the kitchen. Steve sighs with relief but he looked annoyed. "It's okay Heidi. He's with us," he remarks. "I'll let Mr. Stark know he's here," Vision says and disappears. Heidi reluctantly puts the knife back in her hidden compartment under her dress. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest. She thought she was starting to contract. Instinctively she pulls her hand up to her chest and leans over the countertop.

"Are you okay?" the boy asks. "What were you doing in the ceiling kid?" she questions and takes a deep breath. "I noticed one of the lightbulbs were out so I'd thought I would replace it. I'm sorry Mrs. Barnes. I didn't mean to scare you…" He looks at her nervously. "Are you having contractions now?" She gives him a cross look. "Not for the moment." She turns to Steve. "What's he doing here?" Steve glances at the boy and gives him a nod. "What's up Queens?" The boy smiles and shakes his hand with him. "Hey…" He turns back to Heidi and gives her his hand.

"I'm Peter Parker."

She pulls herself up and shakes it with a wary face. "Heidi, but apparently you already know me."

"That was fast! What did you tell your Aunt May?" Tony remarks as he waltz in.

"Mr. Stark! Good to see you!" Peter says enthusiastically. The kid was just star struck. "I told her exactly what you told me. That I was doing a summer internship at Stark Industries." "Good kid. Thanks for coming in." Tony gives him a slap on the shoulder. "What's going on here?" Heidi asks in a grumpy tone. "The kid here is going to help us out," Tony says simply, like it was obvious. "Wait, what?" "We've asked a few friends to come over to help us watch out for Hydra. We don't know what Hydra will be up to so we figured we would be prepared than not," Steve explains. "No." The guys turned to the pregnant woman. "There is no reason for some kid to get involved in our crap with Hydra! No! You're going home," Heidi starts to push the boy out of the kitchen but Steve intervened. "He wanted to come and help. He's a good fighter, believe it or not." "Steve. I'm not going to ask a stranger to fight my fight when it doesn't concern them." "You're not but we are," Tony adds in. Heidi scoffs and shakes her head.

Her golden eyes stare down at the skinny teenager. Just a boy…that's all she sees. This is someone's son! "Why do you want to help out Peter?" she asks. "Because it's the right thing to do," he said immediately. She shakes her head. "This doesn't have anything to do with you. These people are nasty. They have no problems with putting a bullet to your head if you get in their way. Do you understand Peter?" The boy nods. "I know. But…" he shifts his weight awkwardly with all eyes on him. "You would do the same in reverse…not me being pregnant because I can't," he babbles. Tony rolls his eyes. "Get to the point kiddo." "Sorry. But…yeah, you would do the same. It's my chance to return the favor." His brown eyes showed her that he was sincere. "Plus I feel like I owe Mr. Barnes. Last time I saw him, I kinda threw a sign at him." Heidi smiles. "Oh that I have to see for myself," she jokes. "So it's settled then. Come on kid. Lemme show you your room for the time being." Tony steers the teenager out of the kitchen as Vision comes back to let the team know there is another visitor. "Another recruit?" Heidi asks Steve suspiciously. "Let's go check it out."

Sam and Bucky were talking to another guy when Steve and Heidi joined them. "Mr. Lang, thanks for coming so quickly," Steve says as the two men shook hands. "Hey, when America asks for help, you can't say no," Scott responds. "Heidi, this is Scott Lang. Like Peter, he's helped us before," Steve says to her. She shook hands with him. "Thank you for coming," she says politely. "Wow, it is a pleasure to meet you Duchess! Do I…bow or…" "That's not necessary. Call me Heidi." "Wow…you're even more beautiful in person," Scott says and looks at her stomach, "You're ready to go aren't you!" Heidi automatically touches her belly. "You have no idea." "You'll be great. My ex wife was only in labor for like six hours with Peanut and she said it was nothing," he adds in. She gave him a funny look.

"Peanut?" Scott reaches for his wallet and pulls out a picture of his daughter. "Cassie is a big fan, as a matter of fact. She named one of her dolls after you." Seeing the photo of the little girl's smiling face, made her tear up. Damn these hormones! She gives him the picture back. "I'm sorry Mr. Lang but I cannot ask you to do this," she argues, "Go home to your little girl." "I can't do that ma'am," Scott comments. "Cassie told me to…she said 'Daddy you have to help her. The bad people will take her away. She needs you'." He shrugs his shoulders. "Orders are orders," He remarks and looks at the guys as if to say 'am I right'. They nod in agreement. Tears stream down Heidi's face. "But…" "But nothing. You're stuck with me," Scott interrupts.

Bucky wraps his arm around her lovingly. "We've got this," he says reassuringly. Her sad eyes look up at him. "I don't want to see anyone get hurt…or worse." "It's going to be okay. I promise." He pecks her on the lips. "Come on tic-tac we've got a place for your stuff," Sam comments and the group parted ways. A few days later after Peter and Scott came, Thor brought some of his friends from Asgard, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Seeing these people come to help her and Bucky made Heidi weepy. She couldn't believe that they were willing to fight for them and the baby. She felt much more confident with the baby's safety from Hydra now.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Snow Patrol

But one night she dreamt of a man, more of a shadow, with a husky. He was leaning over a headstone and was crying. She stood there for a long moment until he got up and twisted around him, as if he heard someone. He was looking beyond her even though Heidi was literately standing in front of him. His face was dark so she couldn't see anything. All she could see was that he had shaggy brown hair and a five o'clock shadow on his chiseled face. For a moment, she thought he looked like Bucky. She walks past him to see the headstone. Heidi gasps and her hand clamps against her mouth.

 **Heidi Barnes**

 **1988-2050**

 **The Embodiment of Devotion**

Heidi jerks wide away and gasps for air. Sweat covered her body. Bucky stirs next to her. "What is it?" he moans sleepily. Her breathing calms as she realizes she was only dreaming. "Nothing. Just a bad dream." She lies back down and snuggles closer to him. His metal arm wraps around her waist and his hand rests on her belly. "Everything is okay," he mumbles.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Heidi never went back to sleep. She couldn't shake off the image of a man crying over her grave. Who was he? What did it mean? The next day, she asked Natasha for a favor. "I need you to help me find someone." "Whatever you need," Nat says confidently. When told who she was looking for Natasha disappeared for three days before calling Heidi. "I found what you're looking for." "Where?" "New York." "Come get me. I'll come up with some political excuse to leave." "You sure about this?" Natasha asks. "There's something I need to find out, but I don't want to worry Buck. He's got enough to worry about as it is." "Okay." Within hours, Natasha and Heidi were able to sneak out of the compound together under the impression that she's meeting with a political friend in New York.

(Set the Fire to the Third Bar-Snow Patrol)

Natasha drives them to what looks like a university. They pass a large sign that reads Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The main gates open up and Natasha drives up to the front doors. "What is this place?" "A contact of mine is a teacher here. He said he can help us," the redhead explains. Heidi looked around her and noticed something about the wandering students in the building. She just passed by a girl who went through the wall. She gasps. "They're-" "Gifted, is what we like to say," a male voice calls out to the two women. Heidi turns and realizes that the man was covered in blue fur. "Thanks for meeting with us Hank," Natasha remarks and gives the man a firm handshake. His hand could easily crush her head. His demeanor, on the other hand, was entirely the opposite. "I'm glad we can be of help." The man turns to Heidi. "Mrs. Barnes, it's a pleasure to meet you in person." "Heidi, this is Dr. Hank McCoy," Nat introduces. Heidi smiles and gives him a handshake too. "The pleasure is mine Dr. McCoy. So tell me about this place." The three adults walked down the hall together as Hank explains. "Xavier's School is for youngsters with special…talents, if you will, and don't feel comfortable in a normal school setting. This is the place where they'll feel safe but also have social interaction with other youngsters like themselves while getting an education." "Where do you find these kids?" "We have ways but most of them come on their own." Heidi smiles. "Perhaps some day, your child would like to attend here," Hank suggests with a sheepish smile. Heidi nods. "Perhaps...some day...This is nice. I've never heard of this place before so you're good at being hidden," she adds in. "We try to be, for the kids' safety." "I'm sure we make it easier for you guys…with the attention on us." Hank smirks to himself. "I suppose you're right. How are you feeling?" "I'm doing well…I suppose. Natasha said you can help me."

"Well, I know of someone who can help. Follow me." Hank leads the two women to what looks like a dorm hall. He stops at a door and knocks gently. "Come in," a soft voice responds. Hank opens the door. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything Ruth, but, you have a visitor." "Yes, bring Heidi in. I've been expecting her," a girl with long dark hair remarks. She was sitting on a chair in front of an empty one, as if she really was waiting for her. Heidi notices that she's blindfolded by a simple white cloth but the girl seemed alert with her head turned to them directly. "You were expecting me?" she asks. "Of course, if I wasn't the kind of person you were looking for then I wouldn't be…am I right?" the girl, Ruth, says with a playful smile. "I guess you're right." "I'll leave you two alone. I'll be close by if you need anything Ruth," Hank remarks before closing the door.


	22. Chapter 22

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Natasha asks as they were driving home. "Yes," Heidi responds distractedly as she gazes out the window. She was deep in her thoughts about what the girl said. "Everything okay?" "Hmm? Yes, I'm okay. Just missing Buck." He and Steve had gone on a mission that has been taking longer than expected. "He's texted me ten times on our whereabouts. Apparently they're on their way home so he's definitely missing you," Natasha says. Heidi couldn't help but smile. They were about thirty minutes away from the compound when Natasha noticed someone was following them on a motorcycle. She presses a button on her earpiece and says, "Got someone following us. Might need assistance." Heidi turns behind her. "What is it?" "Might be nothing but that bike has been following us for the past two hours." Heidi reaches into the glove compartment to grab a handgun and loads it.

The bike speeds up and moves over to the lane next to them on Heidi's side. The biker was wearing a helmet so they couldn't see a face. He looks over at them before zipping forward and taking the next exit. The two women relaxed. Natasha turns on her comms. "Disregard." Suddenly something bumps up behind them hard. They jerk forward from the crash. Heidi looks behind again while Natasha speeds up. A black jeep is right up behind them and looks like it's attempting to hit them again.

"Shit. The bike was a distraction," Heidi hisses. She tries to unbuckle herself so she can maneuver around to shoot but Natasha stops her. "No. Stay buckled in. I'm gonna get us out of here." She pushes down the gas and speeds the car up. The jeep follows behind. The jeep manages to get close up and hit them again. This time it hit their car on the side so the car swerved out of control for a moment. The impact jolts the girls roughly. Heidi screams as she felt something hit her side. The baby! He kicks again and the two women heard something snap. Heidi roars in pain. "Hold on," Natasha says with gritted teeth. She starts to swerve and pass other cars on the road, trying to lose the person chasing them.

"Stark. We need help now," Natasha yells. "Ahhh!" Heidi started to feel pain in her pelvic area. "Shit, no…it's early," she says with a moan. "What's broken?" Natasha asks as she zips past a semi. "I think he broke a rib…and I think he's com-AHHHHH!" Heidi's hands fling to her sides, trying to grab for something to hold on as a contraction washes over her body. Natasha slowly shakes her head. "So it begins…" she mutters to herself. "We've been compromised. Baby is coming, I repeat, baby is coming and we're being attacked." About a few minutes away from the compound, the girls saw Vision flying over them and he destroys the vehicle easily with the mind stone.

"Thanks Viz!" Nat says. He follows them straight to the compound. Rhodes and Tony, in his suit, met the girls as they parked the car. "How are we looking?" Tony asks in a rush. Rhodes opens Heidi's door and she immediately grasps for his arms. She hunches over and slowly moves to her side to get out of the car. She jerks up and yelps in pain as another contraction hits her. "Easy does it," Rhodes says as he pulls her up. "Take her to the hospice. Bruce and D'orsey are waiting for her. Romanoff, suit up. I've got heat signatures heading our way… and a lot." "Shit, nononono…" Heidi mutters with tears rolling down her eyes. "I've got you. You're okay," Rhodes says, trying to reassure her, as he helps her inside the compound. Someone brings them a wheelchair and he speeds off with her on it. Once they reached the hospice, Bruce and D'orsey help Heidi into a gurney. They get her hooked up to monitors and scans. "She's got two broken ribs, this might be a little difficult," Bruce says out loud. "A little difficult?" Heidi snaps. "Heidi, you need to breath. Your heartrate is rising fast. We need it to come down on a safer level, okay?" D'orsey explains. The woman, already sweating, nods. "Where's Buck? Have we contacted them?" They all stopped when they heard gunfire. "It's started," Bruce says and starts pressing buttons on monitors. "We've contacted Mr. Barnes and Mr. Rogers but they're not back yet." "God damnit Buck!" Heidi yells as she feels another contraction.

Steve and Bucky were flying a quinjet back to the compound. Bucky's phone rings and he puts it on speaker. "Stark?" "Hey…uh…Nat and Heidi ran into Hydra on the way home from New York aaannnnddd she's going into labor now. We need you guys over here now. Like right now!" "What?" The two men turn to each other. "Oh and your son apparently has your legs because he kicked Heidi hard enough to break some ribs." Bucky clenches his fists. "Ten minutes tops," Steve responds and starts to speed up. "Make it three!" They hang up and Bucky slams a fist against the wall next to him. "It's okay. She's with Bruce and the doc and everyone else has her covered," Steve reassures his best friend. "I need to be there." "We will! I'm trying to go as fast as I can."


	23. Chapter 23

Back at the compound, Thor and the other Asgardians have the ground. Scott, Nat and Tony have the lower levels of the compound. Rhodes, Clint, and Vision have the rooftops and sky. Wanda, Peter, and T'Challa have the upper levels. T'Challa just came in a day ago to help them out. He positioned himself to be the last line of defense at the hospice part of the compound. Tony had sent Pepper away on a chopper to get somewhere safe. At first, 2-3 squads of Hydra soldiers came in. Then slowly more and more came.

"You're doing good, Heidi. You're almost there," Bruce says as he checks her and the baby's vitals. Heidi starts to push again, with D'orsey looking down to check for any signs. "Keep pushing!" Heidi clenches down and pushes harder. The contraction goes away and she leans back on the bed. Her breathing becomes ragged and she's already getting tired. Heidi closes her eyes for a moment.

"James…where are you?" she said quietly to herself.

Feeling another contraction coming Heidi sits up and starts to push again. "Good…Good…Keep pushing," D'orsey says encouragingly. Heidi lies back down. "I…I can't…" "Blood pressure is going down. We need a boost," Bruce says to the doc. D'orsey pulls herself away from the end of Heidi's bed. She gets up from her chair and walks to a drawer with syringes and other items. After grabbing what she needs she turns to Bruce, who's back is to her as he's watching Heidi's vitals. "How bad are we looking?" she asks. "Not too bad but I can see she's getting worn out faster than she sh-"

D'orsey jabs a syringe in his neck and he falls to the ground. "Bruce?" Heidi leans down at him and looks back up at the doc. "What the fuck are you doing?" D'orsey, ignoring her, presses a button on a computer and metal bands snap around Heidi's arms and legs. "Let's see if we can get the baby to come out with the next push," she says with a big grin growing on her face. Heidi, realizing what's going on, shrieks helplessly.

Steve and Bucky approach the rooftop of the compound. Someone was firing at them from the ground but Clint was able to put a stop to it. As soon as the jet landed Bucky hops out quickly. "She's in the hospice but something's wrong," Rhodes told him and Steve. "What is it?" Steve asks, afraid of the worst. "Tony said Bruce is unconscious. Something must've happened to him." Bucky's eyes grew big. "No." The two men headed straight inside the compound. "Tony, we're in. What's everyone's status?" Steve asks on his mic. "Thank God. These assholes keep popping up like a bug infestation. Scott's running low on juice. He needs to tap out. Wanda needs some help with the upper levels." "Copy that. We'll head toward Wanda's way and Peter will come down to help you." "I'm on it," Peter's voice responds. 'Hold on Heidi,' Bucky thought as he makes his way down the building.

Heidi struggles against the restraints while also pushing the baby. Tears of frustration and anger stream down her face. She howls and cries loudly with each push. "That's it. He's coming," D'orsey says with a big smile. "Go to hell!" "You first sweetie." "I knew there was something wrong about you…from the moment I saw you." The doc laughs. "Yes, and I was the one who told Steiner about your pregnancy. He was so thrilled. Oh and when I told him who the daddy was…well, he was just over the moon." Heidi grimaces at the woman. "You'll never have my son," she says hatefully. The other woman cocks an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure," the other woman asks. "Because of him." Heidi jerks her head up behind the doc. The woman turns around and faces the Hulk. With a swipe of his hand, D'orsey crashes through the wall and falls from the building to her death. The Hulk roars loudly and slams his fists down on the ground like a gorilla. He turns to Heidi and yells in her direction. She screams back at him.


	24. Chapter 24

The entire team heard the Hulk. Bucky and Steve gained speed as they heard it. "Nat, we need a lullaby," Steve said. "I'm already on the way. T'Challa switch places with me." "Should I distract him first?" "NO! That'll make him worse," Bucky argues, "Just keep an eye on him."

The Hulk grunted and huffed but hasn't made a move toward Heidi. "Hey big guy…" she swallows hard, "I appreciate the help but…I need the other guy about now. AHHHHH!" Hulk backs away and smashes a wall away from her. At that moment, Natasha comes into the room. "Heidi, are you okay?" she asks as she eyes Hulk. "Get these off of me." She was referring to the restraints. Natasha looks at the computer and tries a few different buttons. She was able to find the right one and the restraints come off. Heidi sighs with relief before she starts pushing again with another contraction. "Hold on, Heidi. Let me secure him and I'll help you." Natasha approaches the Hulk and stretches a hand out. "Hey big buy…sun's getting real low." Hulk snorts and grunts at her but slowly he reaches out to her. Their hands make contact and finally Hulk backs away but only to smash into tables and equipment in the hospice. He starts to shrink and falls to the ground. Natasha tosses a blanket at him before returning to Heidi's side. "Is everyone okay?" Heidi asks worriedly. "Yes, and Bucky is here. He'll be here any second now." Natasha leans in between Heidi's legs and yells, "I see him. Just keep pushing!" Wanting this to be the last one Heidi grabs the bars on either side of her hands and clenches down hard.

The team, eventually, was able to overcome Hydra's forces. Seeing that their plan was not working and losing too many men, Hydra retreated. After knocking out the last guy on the floor, Bucky went straight to the hospice. Moments after, Natasha's voice was heard on everyone's mic, "He's here!" Despite how exhausted everyone felt, their hearts leaped for joy as they can hear a baby's shrilling cry in the background.

Finally, a tiny cry echoes in the room. "He's here," Natasha says. Bruce, with the blanket wrapped around his waist, helps her cut the umbilical cord and get the baby fixed up. Heidi falls back down on the bed with a tired smile. "Alexander…" A single tear falls down her face before her eyes close.


	25. Chapter 25

Bucky rushes into the room and was greeted with Natasha holding the baby, already wrapped in a blanket. Her face was not so welcoming. Bucky, worried, pushes past her and steps forward to the bed. Heidi was still. Her eyes are closed. The heartrate monitor was beeping very slowly, dangerously slowly. "She's lost a lot of blood and her blood pressure was low earlier," Bruce explains. Bucky touches her face. "Baby, come on…wake up. I'm here," he murmurs to her. Nothing. "Heidi…don't do this to me…" Tears were pooling around his blue eyes. Panicking, he starts to shake her. "Heidi…HEIDI!" The baby starts to cry and Natasha comes up to Bucky. He struggled to tear his eyes away from his wife to his son.

He reaches out for him and holds him up to face him. The baby had little wisps of dark hair but he's got the same hazel eyes as his mother. Bucky, overcome with grief but also joy, cradles the baby to his chest. The baby stops crying but he wiggles around. The monitor, then, stops beeping and a straight line comes up. "No…nonononoNONONO!" Bucky roars. Natasha warms up the paddles and slams them on Heidi's chest. Zap. Her chest comes up but still nothing. Natasha tries again. Zap. Nothing. "Come on Heidi," she grunts in frustration. Zap. The two men watch the monitor but still nothing. Natasha was about to try again but Bruce stopped her. She began to cry and he took her away. Bucky sits next to Heidi's body. He leans over and touches her head with his. "Come back to me…please…" he begs. The baby wouldn't stop wiggling in Bucky's arm and he starts to cry again. Bucky, not sure what else to do, places the infant on her bare chest. Let him hold his mother at least once. The baby immediately stops crying and holds on to the woman. Bucky leans over on the side of the bed and covers his face with his hands as he grieves.

She was cold and tired. Everything around her seemed dull. It hurt to move or even breathe. 'I just need some sleep,' she thought. Heidi felt the fuzziness of her head and vision slowly fade in darkness. Much better. She was comfortable here in the dark. It felt like she was in this state for forever. But then, she felt something warm in her chest. Did she hear a baby cry?

Alexander!

In that instant, the blackness diminished and Heidi felt her lungs expand and light shining on her face. She gasps loudly and starts to cough for air. Something was sitting on her chest and she reaches out for it only to realize it's her son. "Oh thank God," Bucky's voice rings in her ears. She looks up and he was standing over her. His eyes were bloodshot and she could see spots of blood around his face from the fights.

"James?"

"I'm here. I thought I lost you," he says with a smile. She pulls herself up to kiss him. Natasha and Bruce come rushing in and they were relieved to see her. "We thought we had lost you!" Nat shrieks with tears. "I think I was…for the moment…" Heidi says quietly. Then her attention turns to the baby in her arms. Joy overwhelms her as she holds him up in her arms to look at him. "Hey sweetie, I'm so glad you're finally here," she coos. The baby smiles back. She laughs and looks up at her husband. "He's just as handsome as you are." "Apparently as strong too," he adds. The pair laughed together.

Bucky showed his son to the rest of the team. Everyone was happy to see that he was healthy. Just as predicted, Alexander has traces of Heidi's formula in his blood stream. It is expected that he will have similar abilities as his mother. Three days after the baby was born, the Secretary of State came to the compound. Seeing the wreckage, he immediately questioned Stark and Rogers. When they explained that Hydra attacked them, Ross freaked out. "This is why I wanted her under surveillance in the first place."

"Oh like you were going to stop Hydra from getting to her," Tony argues, "No, she was at the safest place she could possibly be. She was no danger to anyone else!"

"But now I have dangerous people who might use drastic measures to get to her and the child." "So you'd rather we hand them to Hydra and use them to hurt innocent people instead?" Steve retorts. Ross slams a thick booklet on the table. "THIS is a contract from the U.N. stating that Hendricks and her child become government property. They will be taken to a secure facility where they will be constantly monitored and protected." The two other men were stunned. "I'm in the process of including Barnes since the secret is out I suppose." "So you're going to lock up a newborn just because of his parents? You're insane!" Tony yells. "I have over 100 signatures from countries around the world that agreed to this. Besides, the child will be taken care of. We're not separating him from his mother." "How long do you intend to keep them?" Steve questions with a cold look. "As long as we want, or at least until things quiet down. "You mean until the people forget them," Tony remarks. Ross ignores them and leaves to search for Heidi.


	26. Chapter 26

Wanda and Natasha were with Heidi in the entertainment room, who's sitting on a chair while rocking her son to sleep. Bucky stomps in the room and only gave Heidi a pissed off look. She gravely nods. A moment later, Ross and some soldiers enter the room. Bucky stands defensively in front of Ross. Wanda and Natasha stand up too, ready to fight. Ross glares at Bucky but turns his gaze at the woman sitting. He lifts the contract and tosses it at the table next to her. "This is the official contract. The U.N. has collectively agreed on it. If you refuse, you will be deemed a criminal."

"But if she complies then she's to be treated as one regardless," Bucky snarls. "Not just her…you as well Barnes, if you wish to join them," Ross adds. Heidi slowly gets up from her chair and walks up next to Bucky. "James…" He snaps his head to her. His eyes showed confusion. "You're just going to give up? You never gave up a fight." "I know you're angry; but I'm doing this for him." Her gaze falls down on her son, who's sleeping soundly.

For the three days he has been alive Heidi couldn't believe her luck. All she could ever think about was her little boy. Her miracle! And in a way, her second chance at having a normal life. Not only was he was 1 in 134 but Alexander will be the first to ever be born 'enhanced'. Even the fact that his parents came from different times! His father from the 40's and his mother from the 2000's. If Bucky had lived a normal life and never ran into Hydra, he probably would've came home from the war, got married, had kids, and lived a long life as he should have. He would've been long dead before Heidi could've met him. No way in hell she's going to let anything happen to her son.

Her golden eyes return to his blue ones. "I'm tired of fighting. If this is what the world wants then so be it. As long as I get to have him, I'm content with what may come." She shifts her gaze to Secretary Ross. "I have one request though." Ross nods in acknowledgment. "I want Bruce to be Alexander's physician." Ross smirks. "You mean the man who turned into a huge monster in the same room as you as you were giving birth to your son?" Heidi's head lifts up stubbornly. "Better than the other doctor who was with us…she turned out to be a Hydra spy." Ross looks away uncomfortably. "Fine. We'll give Banner security clearance but he must be attended by someone else in case _he_ gets out of hand." Heidi nods. "Done." "Then be ready in an hour," Ross states before leaving with his men. "I can't let them take you both away from me," Bucky says in a low voice. "Then come with us," she comments. For a moment, the Winter Soldier looked conflicted. "I know you've made a commitment here. I understand if you want to stay." "No," he said abruptly, "I'm coming with you."

Media choppers were flying over the compound to record Heidi, carrying her newborn son, being escorted on a plane. Her neck was secure with a collar as well as her wrists were cuffed. Bucky strides next to them with his hands secured behind him. A handful of soldiers surround them as they lead the couple and the child up the plane. The Avengers couldn't do anything about it except hope that their comrades will return some day. They felt better knowing that Bruce and possibly another member of the team will get to see them on a regular basis, especially for the baby. The video footage of the couple being corralled onto the plane spread quickly all around the world. The people were horrified by the image. People posted videos on social media of bits and pieces of the fight with Hydra as well. In a course of a month, the people began to protest the lockup. They began to realize who's side Heidi and Bucky were on; it was as if before they had forgotten who they were and what they stood for. But now they remembered that they were heroes. So why are they being chained up and locked in a secret facility? And they were outraged for the baby as well. Why should an innocent like a child be locked away? Slowly countries were forced to revoke their vote on the contract that kept Heidi and Bucky under lock and key.

Within three months, the contract rescinded. Heidi and Bucky, with their son, were released and were able to return to the Avengers. The team celebrated with a huge welcome home party for the pair and even surprised them by giving them an entire wing to themselves and the baby. The couple was very happy to return home. Almost immediately Bucky started to work on missions with the team. Heidi decided that she would retire as an active member and as Duchess but she had something else in mind.


	27. Chapter 27

A Few Months Later…

A handful of older teens hung around the training room. A couple of them were playfully wrestling with each other. One girl was very shy and stood away from the others with her arms wrapped around herself. One teen in particular just stood at attention, waiting for training to start. A moment later, Steve, Natasha, Heidi, and Bucky approached the teens. "Alright recruits, we're going to change things up a bit," Steve starts. He gestures to Heidi and says, "From now on, you'll be trained directly under our retired agent, Heidi. She'll be assisted by Agent Romanoff, you all remember her. You'll be under their wing from here on out."

"Is that a baby?" one teen points out.

Alexander is strapped to Heidi's front and surprisingly quiet. Heidi arches a brow at the kid. "You've got a problem with that?" Her scary look made the boy shiver. "No…No ma'am!" Despite the baby, some of the other boys were eyeing Heidi like she was candy; she couldn't help but smirk and took pity on them. She didn't have to look at her husband to know that he's noticed too. "Wait, you're Tamer aren't you?" One boy asks. Heidi smiles. "Yes, that is what they called me." "How come you aren't training us Mr. Rogers?" the shy girl asks and blushes. Heidi could tell the girl has a big crush on Cap.

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough resources or the time to be training you guys as well as actively participating in missions. I'm confident in Heidi that she'll prepare you when you become active members." Natasha hands Heidi a file of the names of the recruits and their strengths and weaknesses. "I expect everyone to comply under her authority. If not…trust me when I say you don't want me to come back," Steve remarks and points at his best friend. "Because he'll be joining us." Bucky just smirks at the terrified kids.

One time Steve invited Bucky to help train the recruits, Bucky made them do twenty laps…just to warm up. "Ladies, we expect you to whip them into shape," Steve remarks to the women. Bucky and Heidi share a kiss before the men leave the room. "Okay, let's get started with a roll call," Heidi begins. She looks through the list and starts to name everyone off. She smiles and looks up at the boy who had been standing still and ready. "Good to see you Queens." "Glad you're back, Mrs. Barnes," Peter responds with a grin. "Don't think because you helped me last time that I'm going to go easy on you," she adds. "I wouldn't dream of it." Some of the other boys were shocked that the dorky, skinny kid was in familiar terms with the hot trainer. "Okay, let's start with five laps and we'll do hand-to-hand," Heidi orders. Everyone groans. "Let's make it 10 for the negativity. Move it!" she yells. Great…she's just like her husband. The two women share amused smiles.

Heidi became the official recruiting trainer for the Avengers. She and Nat worked together most of the time and almost every morning sessions, Alexander was strapped to her. She would run laps with him and perform exercises with ease despite the baby attached to her. After she felt the recruits were ready to become active she would get with Steve and Bucky to create tests and mock missions. If they passed, the recruits became Avengers, if they failed they had to go through training all over again. For many years Heidi became known to be an incredible trainer. She certainly lived up to the name 'Tamer'. When their son was old enough, Heidi and Bucky agreed that, if he wanted to, Xander, as they nicknamed him, could start his training as well. It was difficult for her, at first, to be hard on him but she wanted him to be a good example. She had never forgotten what Ruth said to her. And she hopes that he will be prepared for what the future will bring and that he will choose the right path.


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own Of Monsters and Men...and prepare for tears

('Silhouettes'- Of Monsters and Men)

"You _were_ hard on me," Xander remarks as he chuckles. "I remembered long days of training but…I loved it." Heidi smiles back. "Plus I was getting back at you for breaking my ribs." The man rolls his eyes. "That will never go away." She shakes her head. "So what now?" she asks, "You've heard the story so what are you going to do?" Xander was silent for a moment. "I don't know. What would Dad do?" "You can't think like that, son. You and your father are two different people, with different thought processes. You have to decide for yourself." She reaches out for his hand on his lap. "But know this…I am proud of you…and I love you." The man smiles down at his mother. "Love you too, Ma." She leans over and kisses his cheek.

"It's going to be okay."

"Promise?" he asks.

"Promise."

They heard someone approaching and Xander stood up. Steve, with a graying beard and silver hair, meanders up to them. "Thought I would find you both here," he remarks with a friendly smile. "Everything alright?" Heidi asks. "Yeah, I was just looking for Xander because Peter was looking for him, wanting to debrief you I suppose." The younger man nods. "Yeah, he's pretty organized about the debriefings. Wants to have every detail." He turns to his mother. "Good to know all that training paid off," she remarks with a huff. "See you at dinner?" She smiles and nods. "See you soon."

Xander whistles and Rex follows him out from the cemetery. Steve takes the spot next Heidi. They fall in a comfortable silence for a moment. "Every time I see him…I see his father," Heidi says with a sigh, "And it hurts more and more." Steve merely nods in acknowledgment. "But I'll be with him soon." She turns her head at Steve with a knowing look. He sighs heavily. "How long have you known?" "A long time." "And you didn't say a thing." It wasn't a question, more of a statement. "I knew it would've destroyed the team…most especially Bucky." Steve looks away from her, feeling uncomfortable. Heidi relapses back to when she visited Ruth…

 _"We'll leave you two ladies alone. We'll be close by if you need anything, Ruth," Hank says before closing the door. The girl gestures to the chair in front of her. "Please, sit down. You must be tired." "Thank you." Heidi, with her large round belly, struggles to sit on the seat._ _"You must know then what I'm here for then." The girl nods._

 _"You want to know your son's future…and your dream."_

 _"Yes, who was the man in my dream? Why was he crying over my grave?"_

 _The girl smiles sheepishly. "Surly you must have an idea." "That's why I want to know my son's future. Hydra is about to make an attack and I need to know that he's going to be okay," Heidi says desperately. The girl reaches out for Heidi's hand. "Very well." Ruth holds her hand and was silent for a moment. "He will grow up…strong…dependable…a good man." "What about Hydra?" Heidi asks desperately._

 _"Hydra will not have him….but…I see something...hmmm…something tragic will happen and it will cause a fork in the road for him." "What do you mean?" "He will have to make a choice and it could change him for the better…or it will destroy him." "You said a tragedy will happen. What is it?" Heidi points out. "Your death," the girl said simply. The wheels in the blonde's head began to turn._

 _"So…that was my son…crying over my grave?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _Heidi couldn't help but breath out a laugh. A smile grew on her face. "That was Alexander…" Her hand touches her stomach. But something dawned on her. "What about Bucky?" The girl grimaces. "I don't see him…but that doesn't mean he isn't dead…nor alive." "How do I die?" The girl's head jerks up with alarm. "Do you really want to know? By knowing how you die, you can change the events of the future. That might not be for the best," Ruth explains. "You probably get asked that a lot." "I do. I try not to tell. Everyone dies so why does it matter if you know how?" "True," Heidi responds, "But if I can prepare him, somehow, for it maybe it would help him overcome the grief for it." The girl tilts her head curiously. "Perhaps…"_

 _"Tell me."_

 _"All I can see is that it is a comrade. Someone close to you…I see a strong hand…clenching down on your neck…you don't even fight it…" Heidi, frightened, stands up quickly and pulls away from the girl. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have told you." "No, you've been very helpful Ruth. Thank you," the woman says distractedly. After calming down, Heidi comes up to the girl and kneels in front of her before holding her hands in hers. "Truly, thank you for this Ruth. I owe you a favor. Whatever it is, whatever the time." The girl nods. "Yes, someday I will ask you for this favor. This will not be the last time we see each other." Heidi kisses the girl's hands and gets up to leave. "Mrs. Barnes," Ruth calls out. Heidi stops and turns to the girl. "It's going to be okay." Unsure if she meant the fight with Hydra or the future, Heidi nods and says, "Thank you."_

"When did it start?" she asks Steve. "When I first fought Red Skull…what he said to me…I couldn't stop thinking about it. It seemed to make sense, especially now. So I found a contact and I've been recruited," he explains. "Bucky never knew did he?" "No." "What was your mission then?" she asks curiously. "Spy on the Avengers. Stand by until further notice." "Even when Xander was born? You didn't do anything then." "He wasn't my mission. They thought it was important that I stayed close to you until they needed me to take action." Steve slowly stands up. Heidi doesn't make a move but continues to look up at him as he steps toward her. "Why now then?" "We've never been alone…until now." The look in his eyes made her, well, sympathetic. She could tell he was conflicted…lost. His hand snags her neck roughly. Still she doesn't make a move. "You know he'll come after you," she gasps. Steve nods, knowing she means Xander. "I know, he is his mother's son after all," he said coldly. Tears trickle down her face. "That's what I'm afraid of." He clenches harder on her neck. She can feel her windpipe bending. Her hand reaches for his arm.

"Say…it" she wheezes, "Say…the god…damn…words…"

She swore she thought she saw tears as her husband's best friend reluctantly says, "Hail Hydra."

Steve returns to the Avengers' compound carrying Heidi's body in his arms. The team was utterly shocked. He said she simply stopped breathing. They assumed a heart attack…or a heartbreak. When Xander saw his mother's stiff body, he never cried so hard in his life. After his father died when he was young, all he had was her. She was the constant in his life. His compass. Now, she's gone too.

Two days later the team buried her next to Bucky. The retired members of the team took it harder than the younger ones. Slowly the group disperses from the cemetery, until Xander stood alone. He leans down and buries his face in his hands. Rex howls with his cries. Three people return to the gravesite. Xander turns around to see Natasha, Peter, and Scott's daughter, Cassie. Cassie comes up and gives him a hug. "I'm so sorry Xander. We all miss her too," she whispers. "Thanks Wasp," he mutters. "Come on kid, let's go home," an elderly Natasha says and takes his arm.

Later that night, the team lost another member. It was Vision who found Steve's note. There was no sign of him but the note explained how he couldn't handle the guilt and admitting that he was a Hydra spy all along. The person who took it the hardest was Tony. He was so hurt and angry that he started drinking heavily again. The whole team took an emotional hit that they couldn't discuss the reinstatement of the Accords. Peter, the current team leader, decided that the team will temporarily disband and return in a few weeks to discuss the Accords. It was a hard call but everyone needed time to process.


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own Lydia

The One You Once Loved Is Leaving- Lydia (acoustic)

Xander and Natasha went to Clint's farm when the team separated. His kids, also members of the team, returned home as well. Xander, for some reason, felt at home at his Uncle Clint's farm. The woods felt like a safe haven for him. That first night he had a dream.

 _Heidi, dressed in a long sleeved white dress, found herself in the woods. Snow covered the ground and the branches. The landscape looked pristine and pure. And it was quiet, save for birds singing._

 _She slowly starts to wander and weave around the birch, enjoying the peacefulness of her surroundings. Then something catches her attention and she looks to her right. A man walks toward her. At first she wasn't sure who he was until he got closer. She smiles and tears began to roll down her face. The man stops in front of her, returning the smile. There were small signs of wrinkles around his eyes. He was wearing a long sleeved white shirt and white pants._

 _"James," she sighs._

 _She notices something was different about him. His left arm wasn't metal. It was flesh and bone._

 _"…Been waiting on you," he remarks playfully._

 _He extends his left hand out to her. She takes it eagerly and they lock fingers. He pulls her closer to him to kiss her lovingly. "I've missed you," she whispers. "Me too," he responds, "Let's go home." She takes a step but stops to turn behind her. Bucky notices and gives her hand a squeeze. "He's going to be okay." "Promise?"_

 _"Promise."_

 _With that he leads her deeper into the woods until their figures disappeared._

He jerks up from his slumber with his face wet with tears. Xander exhales heavily and lies back down in bed. He knew then that the dream was his parents reuniting and they were at peace. No longer afraid for their lives or watching their backs from Hydra. No longer having to go through the pain of losing loved ones. For a moment he envied his parents. It gave him a small sense of peace. A small smile creeps up on his face as he stares at the ceiling. "Love you too," he whispers before falling asleep. For now, he'll sleep. Because tomorrow is a new day.


End file.
